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Twenty-three
Died In Tragic Mining Incident In Harlan Co.
In
1932 Rescuers Worked Through The Night To Retrieve The Mine Explosion
Victims; Six Brothers Were Among Those Who Perished
Editor's
Note: Harlan County was stunned in December 1932 when a mining
disaster sent 23 men to their deaths in the Zero Mine of the
Harlan Fuel Company in Yancey. At this time this was the greatest
mine catastrophe in the history of Kentucky's mining industry.
Among the victims were six Massingill brothers, 12 African-Americans,
and five others. People were shocked by the news, and gloom hung
over the county as families and friends gathered at the mine
entrance waiting sadly for their loved ones to be retrieved.
Jerry Asher acquired some of this information from old newspaper
clippings and the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals records.
He was also fortunate enough to meet Sue Massingill Shelton and
Martha Hendricks, nieces of the Massingill brothers, who shared
photos and information.
By
Jerry Asher - 2006
There
is a special place many have discovered where memories are kept
alive and some areas are frozen in time. This special place is
the Kentucky Coal Museum in Benham, Harlan County, Kentucky.
There are reminders of happy times, comical times, and sadly
there are also reminders of tragic times. One display is of the
Massingill family, a family who suffered more than anyone could
imagine.
The tragedy began on December 9, 1932. A mother and father lost
six of their sons in one fiery moment. In all, 23 miners lost
their lives in the Zero Mine at Yancey. State records indicate
that an improperly tamped powder-load could have possibly caused
the explosion. When blasting coal, a hole was drilled and a charge
of powder was placed at the back of the hole, then dummy bags
were tamped tightly against the powder-charge. If it is loosely
tamped it burns out through the hole instead of exploding. Burning
out through the hole ignited the gas land dust. Black powder
was later outlawed. This theory cannot be proven to be the cause
of the explosion because everyone in that section of the mine
was killed.
Adding to the pain of the disaster was miserable weather. It
was a cold, rainy Friday and a muddy time. The road leading to
the Zero Mine was wet and slick. Several cars slid off the road
and were stuck in the mud. In spite of this, hundreds of family
and friends were waiting at the mouth of the mine for their loved
ones to be brought out. The Massingills, having 11 children,
lost over one-half of them in one short moment.
P. N. Massingill was 78 years old and waited dry-eyed at the
mouth of the mine for the rescuers. He sat motionless with his
face solemn and inflexible. The bodies of three sons had already
been removed along with one other miner. "Reckon there ain't
much need my staying around," Massingill said, "Reckon
all my younguns are dead, but I am staying anyhow."
J. F. Bryson, safety director of the Harlan County Coal Operators'
Association, was the first to enter the mine after he received
news of the explosion.
Charles Guthrie, mine superintendent, was sitting before a fire
on the outside when he saw leaves puffed out of the mouth of
the mine. As the ventilation fan draws air into the mine, he
suspected there was danger. He rushed into the adjoining entry
and warned men to get out. The 12 miners who escaped the deadly
gas fumes rushed from the mine to tell of the explosion.
Bryson was notified at Black Star, and he hurried to Yancey after
notifying rescue teams to be on standby. He entered the mine
at 11:40 a.m. and at about 2,000 feet into the mine encountered
gas. He returned and led two rescue teams in with him to begin
the hazardous work of finding the bodies. At first a faint hope
was held that some of the men might have been able to brattice
themselves off from the fatal "black damp," carbon
monoxide that follows an explosion.
Gradually ventilation was restored further and further into the
mine depths. Rescuers encountered terrific heat as they neared
the explosion point.
One of the most graphic descriptions of the explosion came from
Dave Davenport, 36, whose brother, Charles, was killed in the
mine.
"I was about 150 yards from the point of the explosion,
with a gang of 20 other men," he said. "I felt something
like a needle pushed into my ears and then jerked out. I knew
it was an explosion and yelled, 'Come on, boys, let's get out
of here,' and we started running." Unnerved by the experience,
Davenport said his mining career was at an end.
All afternoon the rescuers pushed into the mine and at 7:15 p.m.
the first four bodies were brought out. Three of them were Massingill
brothers. All of them apparently died from the gas that overtook
them as they tried to escape.
Rescuers found some of the bodies 4,000 feet apart, indicating
they were not all at the point of the explosion. Five were badly
burned, the others were victims of the "black damp."
The bodies were dragged over debris that had been shaken from
the roof. All through the cold, wet night rescuers worked. Saturday
at 1:30 a.m. 19 bodies had been recovered, identified, and sent
to the Cumberland mortuary. Around 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning
the last four men were found, and the bodies were brought out
of the mine at 7:00 a.m.
As the bodies were brought from the mine, they were identified,
wrapped in huge pieces of burlap, and loaded into hearses. As
the bodies were brought from the mine they were first taken to
the Cumberland mortuary. The hearses passed by the homes of some
of the miners where Christmas trees were already displayed.
I believe the Cumberland mortuary was the old Creech Drugstore
building. It stands across the street from the Harlan Courthouse.
The bodies were displayed on the second floor. The building is
now vacant, and the windows are missing on the second floor.
More than 5,000 people were estimated to have passed through
that death room on Saturday to view the victims. Women, with
children in their arms or clutching to their skirts, came to
see their husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers.
Five Massingill women, wives of the brothers and each with a
young child, cried hysterically. They walked about the bodies
time and time again. At last they were forced to move due to
the large crowd pushing behind them. The brothers were taken
to Tazewell, Tennessee, and were buried in one large grave.
One other important thing that stands out about the disaster
is the number of African-Americans who lost their lives. Twelve
of the 23 killed were African-Americans. This also shows what
a major part they played in the development of the county, and
the important part they played in coal production. The African-Americans
killed were: Harrison Jackson; Luther Jones, 26; Benjamin Fields,
32; brothers, Arthur Woods, 32, and Harold Woods, 28; Mace Turnbough,
30; Alfred Graves; Jim Davis; Eugene Woods; Will Reynolds; Will
Newell; and Robert Benko. Others were: Garret Massingill, 36;
Henry Massingill, 34; Thomas Massingill, 32; James Massingill,
30; Campbell Massingill, 26; Easu Massingill, 20; Henry Hibbard,
39; Herman Eddie and George Hendricks (half-brothers); O. A.
Romine, 29; and Charles Davenport, 32.
Someone once said that if we say their names and tell their story,
they will always be with us. To my knowledge not any kind of
recognition has been made to these men or their families for
their sacrifice. No plaques or monuments stand anywhere.
If you are interested in the history and heritage of the coal
miner and mountain people, you would enjoy visiting the Kentucky
Coal Museum located in Benham. Benham was a coal camp built by
International Harvester in the very 1900s. This small town is
extremely neat and pretty.
Jerry
Asher, 4586 HWY 840, Wallins, KY 40873, shares this article with
our readers.
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