To every thing there is a season …
A time to be born … a time to die …
A time to weep … a time to mourn …
Ecclesiastes: Chapter 3
On Wednesday, January 10, 1940, the Pond Creek No. 1 Mine at Bartley, owned by Pocahontas Coal Corporation, exploded at exactly 2:30 in the afternoon killing ninety-one men. Two men standing outside in the cold drizzling rain witnessed a cloud of black dust and bits of paper shoot out of the mine entrance. In the blink of an eye the explosion made bereaved widows of fifty-one women, and orphans of one-hundred and sixty-nine children. The mine shaft was a depth of about 600 feet. Families lived in company-owned houses near the mine. One-hundred and thirty-eight men were in the mine at the time of the blast. The west side of the mine was not affected, and thirty-seven men escaped injury. Another ten men at the bottom of the mine shaft also cheated death. The mine foreman and others near the bottom of the shaft felt a strong rush of air that sounded like a fire siren. The area was instantly with filled thick dust. Jack Tickle and Fred White’s fathers were two of the victims. Their families lives would never be the same.
Top mine officials were holding a safety-meeting near the mine at the time of the explosion. They began organizing rescue workers immediately which entered the mine at three o’clock. They traveled in fresh air to the explosion area, and extinguished some small fires. Seven hours after the first blast as men replaced brattice curtains, a second explosion occurred. The crew quickly returned to the surface. Bartley Mine was a gassy mine, so extreme precautions were necessary.
Relatives spent an anxious night gathered around the Bartley Mine waiting for the fate of their loved ones, and as dawn broke rain turned to snow. They tried to keep warm from bonfires, and makeshift stoves made from barrels . How many tears could the people of Bartley shed? It had only been three months that a tragic school bus wreck took the lives of the bus driver and six Big Creek High School students. On October 11, 1939, news of the wreck spread like wildfire through the community. Hundreds of people rushed to the site. Miners left their jobs at the Bartley Mine as soon as they were notified leaving the mine almost at a standstill. At 8 o’clock in the morning, a spindle on the bus snapped plunging the bus from the highway down an eighty-three foot embankment onto the railroad tracks below. A high school student waiting for news of his brother’s fate entombed in the Bartley Mine said he would always dread the second Wednesday of every month. Both the bus wreck and mine disaster struck on a Wednesday.
It took more than an hour to free the bus driver and children from the wreckage. Herbert Belcher was a much loved and respected driver. Charles Flanagan and Maxine Beavers were standing behind the driver sharing peanuts. Shortly before the bus went over the mountainside, Mr. Belcher told them they’d have to clean the bus because they were throwing shells on the floor. Mr. Belcher’s legs were caught underneath the engine and one leg was so badly mangled it had to be amputated. Death claimed Mr. Belcher and six students.
LIST OF THE DEAD
Herbert “Hull” Belcher – age 39 – bus driver
Lucille White – age 16 – valedictorian of her Bartley Junior high school graduating class
Maxine Beavers – age 18
Lucille Mullins – age 17
Ernest Woody, Jr. – age 15
Charles Colvard – age 16
Ralph Earls – age 17
LIST OF STUDENTS IN CRITICAL CONDITION
Jessie Mullins – age 14 – internal injuries (sister to Lucille)
Claude Runyon – age 16 – head injuries
James White – age 16 – internal injuries
Charles Flanagan – 18 – internal injuries
Virginia Logan – age 16 – fractured pelvis
Pauline Jessie – age 16 – fractured pelvis
Fifty-one others, including Jack Mullins, sister of Lucille, remained in the hospital for treatment. Now Mrs. Mullins waited at the Bartley Mine for news of her husband Marion and her young son Charles who where working when the mine blew up.
A frenzied crowd gathered quickly after news spread that the mine had blown. Only one phone to the outside world was working after the blast, and it took two hours to restore service. This added to the chaos, because police could not be called for crowd control. Men were running around searching for equipment, and cursing the events and the weather. Screaming women and children rushed to the mine shaft getting in the way of workmen. School buses soon began arriving unloading high school and elementary school children, and some of them went to the scene before going home. Agnes Monaghan, age fifteen, stood vigil for her widowed mother. Her brother, Pat was one of the victims, but brother Joe was spared as he was not at work. It was estimated that a crowd of almost two-thousand people congregated by nightfall on the first day.
Frightened wives, some half-crazed with grief, set up a relief station in the lamp house to serve free coffee and sandwiches to rescue workers and waiting relatives. Spectators and curiosity seekers were not allowed in that area. Mrs. Alonso Barnett, a twenty-one-year-old mother of four children said she couldn’t stay away knowing her husband was trapped down there. She later learned he was one of the victims.
Mrs. Floyd Combs, a young bride helped out. Her husband was among the missing. In the early morning hours, she could no longer hold up. She broke down sobbing and started home only to collapse in the snow. Friends took her home. Her husband was among the dead.
Twenty-year-old William Fultz rushed from his college classes at West Virginia State College near Charleston to the blast site. He said,”I worked in that mine all summer, and from what I know of it I’m certain some will come out alive.” The optimistic hoped some of the men would barricade themselves in “rooms” off the main entry to hold out until a rescue team could reach them. William’s father and uncle died in the blast.
As dawn approached, four bodies had been located. Roy Evans was the first body discovered. Later, Roy “Red” Hyatt, Charlie Moffitt, and an unidentified man were found. Hope was fading for the other entombed miners.
Officials first set the number of victims at ninety-two. P. B. Atwell didn’t know that his name was on the list of those who were believed to be dead until Sunday. The paper issued a corrected list of the names of the dead. They had listed him as P.D. Atwell. By a quirk of fate, Atwell, a young single man, reported for work that fated day only to find no loading checks on the board for him. Assuming there was no work for him that day he returned home. After reading the paper, he appeared in person before mine officials to prove he was very much alive. He was scheduled to work in Main 6 which was the center of the blast.
Forty years after the mine disaster, Homer Barnett of English still vividly remembers that day. He was a thirty-eight-year-old coal-cutter at the mine who worked the evening shift. Preparing to enter the mine, he heard the explosion, and watched in horror as the lids on the ventilation fans blew off. Barnett said some of the men were found in a crouched position. Rigor mortis had set in, and we didn’t want the family to see them like that. So, we broke their legs in order to put them on a stretcher
Evidence proved most of the men died instantly. However, at least one of the victims lived long enough to pen a farewell note to his wife. The note was written on paper torn form a rock dust sack, folded carefully, and placed in his hard-hat. Ernest Hoops note read: “If we don’t make it out, darling wife, please take my body down home and have Rev. Spears to preach my funeral. Ernest” His remains were taken to his hometown in Jackson, Ohio. Rev. George Spears who preached his funeral was working in another part of the mine, and was one of the forty-seven men who escaped death.
Some of the bodies were buried under slate, and it took several days to recover them. Each body was then carried to the bottom and laid out side by side. No one was brought to the top until all the men were recovered, so decomposition had set in and bodies had to be sprayed continuously with formaldehyde. Each rescue man carried a can, but the spaying did not fend off the odors. Five days after the blast all the bodies were removed by ambulances to a temporary morgue in Welch and additional morticians were brought in to prepare them for burial. Caskets were lined up everywhere as people stumbled through the line to claim their loved-ones. Jack Tickle’s, Uncle Kent Sutphin admonished a director who was trying to rush the people along. He told him that these were human-beings and needed time. There was no mass funeral. Each family planned separate funerals. The majority of interments were in Iaeger Memorial Cemetery near Roderfield. However, so many were laid to rest on the same day it appeared to be one big, mass funeral.
Joe Tickle grew up on a farm in White Plains, North Carolina in a family of ten children. Joe’s father was an abusive alcoholic who worked hard, but had little to show for his effort. In his early teens Joe’s mother died, and his father farmed all the children out to anyone who would take them in. At age sixteen, Joe stole a car and headed for the West Virginia coalfields hoping to find employment. He made it as far as the state of Virginia where he made a quick stop. He looked out the window, and saw a policeman checking out the car. Joe escaped out the back door, and thumbed the rest of the way to Coalwood, West Virginia. A cousin, Fred Tickle helped him find employment in the mine where he worked.
Joe married Gladys Salyers, whose mother ran the boarding house in Coalwood. By 1938 Joe had moved his wife and three children, Phyllis, Ronald, and Jack to Bartley Hollow where he was employed by Bartley No. 1 mine. In August of that year Gladys gave birth to their last child, Allen. They lived in a company house with no electricity or indoor water or plumbing. Joe’s, stepfather, John Coldiron helped with the recovery of the miners. He was the one who found Joe’s body, and said a timber was blown completely through Joe’s badly burned body.
The Tickle family lived about a mile up Bartley Hollow. Jack said shortly after his dad’s death he was riding a sled with his sister when an elderly colored lady called out to them asking if they were Joe Tickle’s kids. When they said yes, she invited them in for hot chocolate. Jack was only three, but his sister remembers the ladies house being the warmest, cleanest house she had ever been in. The lady said she always knew when their dad passed by her house on his way to work, because he was always whistling. Shortly after that, Gladys Tickle settled with the company for one-thousand-dollars, bought a new Chevrolet, and moved the family to English.
Jack Tickle’s grandmother, Beth Sturgill first married John Salyers, but the marriage didn’t work out. After her marriage fell apart she moved from Lousia, Kentucky to Coalwood where she ran a boarding house. In the 1920’s Beth came down with the deadly flu that killed many people, and a boarder, John Coldiron helped nurse her back to health. They later married, and moved to English. Most of his life, Jack’s step-grandfather was fondly referred to as “Uncle Jack.” John worked at the Bartley Mine when the explosion occurred, but was not working that day. They lived frugally having only the bare necessities. His grandmother kept an old black purse hanging on a hall tree behind the bedroom door that held a small silk change purse. She always had a quarter or fifty cents for us. For twenty-five cents Jack said they would catch a movie and buy popcorn and pop. Jack has his grandmother’s silk purse that held the change that gave him so much pleasure.
A newspaper account stated that thousands of dollars would be paid out by the State Compensation Commission from their fund with the coal company bearing the brunt of the expenses over a long period of time. At that time, under West Virginia law the maximum judgement to be obtained in case of accidental death was ten-thousand-dollars. Based on previous cases the article said each death as a result of the Bartley Mine explosion would cost five to six-thousand-dollars with beneficiaries receiving the full benefits. However, it is doubtful any of the victims loved ones sought the advice of an attorney.
The United Mine Workers of America erected a granite monument with all the men’s names that perished in the Bartley Mine inscribed upon it. It was first located at Atwell Park, but in the 50’s the park began to deteriorate. So, it was moved near the Bartley Methodist Church where it still stands today. Jack Tickle is standing beside a marker near the explosion site. Bartley is located on Dry Fork about a mile west of English, and was closed and sealed up long ago.
Bonnie Ethel Kesterson worked at the White Springs Hotel. Her wedding to Jasper White was held at the hotel. They were the parents of nine children: J.T., Virginia, Alma Lucille, Norman Randolph, Clifford Lee, Charles Robert “Bob,” Lola Joan, Frederick E., and Charlie John.
Jasper White served in World War I. All six of his sons entered the service. Charlie John, Norman and Bob joined the US Navy, Clifford and J. T. the Army and Fred the Air Force. Fred, Norman,and Clifford served their twenty years, and received a military pension. Bob doesn’t think of his family as being patriotic. He said “I believe that mostly, we just wanted to get out of those damn mountains and see what else was beyond those hills. After high school, we had a choice of working in the mines if they were hiring, or joining the service with hopes of learning something about the outside world.”
Jasper White was the last body to be recovered. When they picked him up to place him on a stretcher, he was in such an advanced stage of decomposition one of his arms came off. Bonnie did not sleep for five days waiting for news of her husband. She sat in a chair staring at the wall. She did not weep or eat. When news came that they had found his body she went to bed. She later lost the son she was carrying.
Bonnie lived through so much grief in her lifetime. Her daughter, Lola drown in a creek behind their house when she was four-years-old. She lost Lucille in the school bus wreck only three months before her husband was killed. After the death of Jasper a seer read Bonnie’s palm. She told her that she’d had a hard life and had lost many loved ones. She said she’d never have to witness another death in her family. She never did. However, four of her sons have died since Bonnie’s death in 1964. Virginia, Bob and Fred are still living.
According to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, nothing was overlooked by the coal company in caring for the families of the dead. When payday rolled around the Company delievered the fallen men’s paychecks to the widows or beneficiaries. It was said food and other necessities were distributed regularly and generously. However, the Jasper White’s family received an eviction notice soon after his death stating his widow did not have a family member working for the company, and was no longer authorized to live in the company house at Bartley. It was a cold and inhumane thing to do. The Company needed housing for men who would replace the dead. Bonnie White had received a settlement from the Board of Education for the loss of her daughter, Lucille. She used the money to move the family to English. Her eighteen-year-old son, J.T. joined the Army and made a thirty-dollar allotment to help out. Bonnie took in “boarders” to make ends meet.
Clifford, Jasper, Bonnie holding Charles, Virginia, Norman leaning on his aunt, Lucille, & JT. An uncle and aunt standing in the background
An investigation was held from January 24 to February 2 by the Bureau of Mines. Ninety-one men died of burns, violence, and asphyxiation. They concluded the source of ignition was probably an electric arc. Rock dust had been applied over thick accumulations of coal dust, but back entries had not been treated, so coal dust was ignited causing a violent gas explosion. The Bureau of Mines ruled out smoking as the cause even though two cigarettes were found in a miner’s jacket pocket. Chief D. Harrington, of the Health and Safety Branch said it was unfortunate that smoking was ruled out as the original ignition. Smoking was strictly prohibited, and miners were searched before they entered the mines. Still, they smuggled cigarettes into the mine. Even though no matches or burned cigarettes were found in the Bartley Mine, Chief Harrington felt there was good reason to be suspicions. He asked for a formal inquest which was granted, but a conclusion was never reached.
Jack Tickle still lives in McDowell County. Occasionally he drives over to English where he grew up. He likes to walk slowly down those dusty roads so full of memories. There’s not much left of the town as he remembers it. Most of it has been burned down, torn down, or it is decayed beyond repair. Some people would wonder why he goes there. Jack said, “It is because of the friendly ghosts.”
English wasn’t a mining town, so many of the women made widows by the Bartley Mine explosion more than sixty years ago moved there when they were evicted from their company-owned houses. Like Jack, most of his friends were fatherless. “The people of English were simple folk of limited education, and modest achievements who set examples of goodness for me that still blesses me today,” Jack said. He often wonders what his life would have been like if not for those loving people. Most of them have been dead for years so he can’t express to them what is in his heart.
So, that is why Jack sometimes drives over to English to visit his “friendly ghosts.”
LIST OF THE NINTY-ONE VICTIMS
| Name | Age | Survivors |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Claude Anders | 40 | wife and 5 children |
| Concetto Avanzato** | 63 | wife and 4 children |
| Kirby Ayers | ? | ? |
| Alonza Barnett | 37 | wife and 4 children |
| M.L. Beavers | 47 | wife and 6 children |
| Will Benjamin* | 45 | wife and 4 children |
| Hobert Branscome | 34 | wife and 4 children |
| Peyton Crockett Branscome | 36 | wife and 2 children |
| Willie Busbee | 26 | wife and 2 children |
| Ernest Cole | 27 | wife and 1 child |
| Floyd Combs | 26 | wife |
| Jessie L. Cox | ? | ? |
| Robert Cribb* | 32 | single |
| Millard Stanley Crisp | 25 | single |
| William Albert Crouse | ? | ? |
| Chester Davidson | 29 | wife and 1 child |
| Judy Donald Dixon | ? | ? |
| Roy H. Evans | 41 | wife and 4 children |
| Earl Claude Fletcher | 25 | wife |
| Lee R. Flood | ? | ? |
| Robert Fultz* | 51 | single |
| Sanders Fultz* | 45 | wife and 2 children |
| Malcom Garner, Sr. | 45 | wife and 8 children |
| Malcom Garner, Jr. | 20 | single |
| William Arvel Garner | 25 | wife |
| Garland Woodrow Griffith | ? | ? |
| Lee Hairston | 20 | single |
| Lee Hall | 45 | wife and 2 children |
| William Handy | 39 | wife and 5 children |
| Ernest Harlow | 31 | wife and 5 children |
| Felix Harper* | 40 | wife and 5 children |
| Crumbly Hess | 27 | wife and 3 children |
| Dexter Hess | 21 | wife and 1 child |
| John Hess | 30 | wife and 4 children |
| Ernest W. Hoops | 41 | wife and 5 children |
| Bankie Howard | ? | ? |
| Roy C. Hyatt | 32 | wife and 4 children |
| Newton Keene | 55 | wife and 9 children |
| James Kester | 35 | wife and 1 child |
| Mike Lazar | 53 | wife and 3 children |
| L.C. Lester | ? | ? |
| Luther Lester | 35 | wife and 2 children |
| John Lindsey | ? | ? |
| Autice Littleton | 32 | wife and 2 children |
| Vance Marcum | 24 | wife |
| Varney Marshall | 34 | single |
| John H. McGlothin | ? | ? |
| Wash McGlothin | 27 | wife and 2 children |
| Gilmer Floyd Meade | 25 | wife and 1 child |
| James Emmett Meggison | 31 | wife and 4 children |
| Mitchell Levi Mercer | ? | ? |
| Marion Garfield Mills | 29 | wife and 1 child |
| Virgil Mills | 28 | wife and 2 children |
| James V. Mitchell | ? | ? |
| Charles Moffett | ? | ? |
| Patrick Monoghan | 23 | single |
| Charles Mullins (son) | 20 | single |
| Marion Mullins (father) | 45 | wife and 4 children |
| Clarence Oatmeal* | 49 | wife |
| Clarence O’Quinn | ? | ? |
| William Robert O’Quinn | 25 | single |
| Clev Owens | 35 | wife and 7 children |
| Clarence W. Perkins | 37 | wife and 1 child |
| Thomas Howard Pruitt | ? | ? |
| Miles Ray | 31 | wife and 5 children |
| Santiago Sanchez | 41 | wife |
| Tazewell E. Sigmon | 39 | wife and 2 children |
| Jack Sigmon | 19 | single |
| William C. Simpkins | ? | ? |
| Dave Sloane | ? | ? |
| Lee Smith | 36 | wife and 4 children |
| Herbert Spangler | 23 | wife |
| Alfred Sparks | 29 | wife and 2 children |
| Gentry L. Spence | 43 | wife and 5 children |
| Robert Spencer | ? | ? |
| C.C. Stair | 57 | wife and 7 children |
| Claude Stiltner | 19 | wife – married 6 months |
| Clarence Taylor | 43 | wife |
| Joe Tickle | 30 | wife and 4 children |
| Harry S. Underwood | ? | ? |
| James Robert Underwood | 25 | wife and 2 children |
| Robert L. Vance | ? | ? |
| Tommy Wallace | 30 | wife and 4 children |
| Ernest E. Waters | 26 | wife and 3 children |
| William Pershins Wheeling | 22 | single |
| Lawrence Witt | ? | ? |
| JasperWhite | 47 | wife and 8 children |
| Carlos Whited | 23 | wife and 2 children |
| James H. Wingo | 28 | wife |
| Charles G. Wyatt | ? | ? |
| Robert York | ? | wife and 3 children |
** Concetto Avanzato is also listed as Jim Vance. It was common for immigrants with hard to pronounce names to Amercanize their names.
* A list of negro men who died. Victims names were often listed under nationality when huge mine disasters occurred.
Source: Information sent to me by Archivist Jane DeMarchi who is employed by the Beckley, WV Mine Safety and Health Administration. The Bluefield Dailey Telegraph newspaper. Book by Lacy A. Dillon called They Died In The Darkness. Special thanks to Jack Tickle and Fred White who shared their memories and pictures. Also thanks to Bob and Virginia White. – Dolores Riggs Davis
You may also wish to see this: Find a Grave – Bartley No. 1 Mine Virtual Cemetery
My brother, sister and I are learning today how our Grandfather Miles Ray died. If anyone has any additional information about Miles Ray we would be pleased to hear it. I read with interest the history of the explosion because I have also worked in the mining industry at Robena #2 and #3. These portals along with the Colvin shaft Robena #1 are very close to the WV border. How the loss of loved ones impacts several generations is always sad. Frosty Run was the explosion area we worked around and even traveled in a cattle car close to the section area that exploded. I join in sympathy to all who lost loved ones that day…..
You can do research about him at the familysearch.org. site, looking at the census records.
My grandfather died in the mine explosion. Alfred Sparks. It says he had a wife and 2 kids. My grandmother was pregnant with my dad and he was born a few months later. So 3 kids. Alfred Sparks Jr.
In the burial list. It should be
PFC Clarence Oatneal, he was
in WWI from 1917 to 1919 in
Company C Enginering Unit.
My Uncle was Harry S. Underwood. I think he was 20 years old. I remember my dad telling me he was single. I’ve never been able to find any death record on him. His brother Augustus Campbell Underwood was badly burned in this accident but survived.
Hello, sorry for the death of your Uncle Harry.
The story tells how he died on January 10,1940.
Why do you need the D.R.?
You don’t know where he was buried?
You might try searching the census records
at the familysearch.org site if you think
he was born in 1920, try 1930 also.
Hi Bob- thank you for your reply. I don’t need the DR I just wanted to find out as much as possible about him and add him to my family tree. No one in my family knows much about him or where he was buried. I have searched for him on Family search but none of the results match.
Hi Bobbie, you can do an online search
for 1940 Bartley No. 1 Mine, a virtual
cemetery. Its on the findagrave site.
Shows where 73 of the miners are buried.
Your Uncle Harry’s grave isn’t shown but
you might be able to make contact with
the person who put up the Memorials,
maybe they can give you a lead.
Also a search for the 1940 Bartley Mine
shows an article that lists your
Uncle Harry as being married.
Bobbie, ok your Uncle Harry is buried in
Grayson Memorial Cemetery in Carter
County KY. You can see the Memorial
for him on the findagrave.org site.
I found the grave by using the USA search
on the site putting in his date of death.
There is also an obit for him, his wife
was Alda Wright.
Oh! You found him! Thank you so much! Now I can add him to our family tree. A million thanks!
Bobbie, you’re welcome. Hoping that
you can find relatives of Harry’s wife
Alda.
My dad was Kenneth F. Harris and was scheduled to enter the mine, for the next shift, when the mine blew. I was 9 mo. old at that time and my mom, dad and I lived in English. When the explosion occurred and was known in English Mom and my grandparents and I rushed to the mine to see if we could find out any other information on the explosion. It was a number of hours before we found out that dad had not entered the mine as others on that shift had not also. They worked so many hours trying to rescue any miner possible. Many never made it as indicated in this article.
Dad, Mom and I remained in English for a extended period of time to lend any hand they could to the other families. In the months following the explosion My Dad was contacted by several uncles from Roanoke, VA. that secured a job for him with the N&W railroad. We finally moved there in late 1940. Dad continued to work for N&W until he retired and continued to work our farm we were able to buy in Fincastle, VA.
This article is one of the best I have ever seen concerning this tragedy and I commend you for it and the accuracy. My dad’s family were deeply rooted in the English and Bartley area, for many years, and they proudly spoke of life (good and bad) in those areas during the years and times we were together.
My Dad worked there …but left for a job in Jenkins Ky about a week before the disaster..I took back up there before he died. His name was Warren Bevins
You you happen to have a list of the men that were injured in the explosion.I had heard My Grandfather was buried in the explosion but was one that was rescued
Could someone please tell me who the 9 children were of Newton Keene, he was my grandfather. My dad Gordon C. Keene was only 6 months old when his dad passed away, and was the last child that I know of. His mother’s name was Melissa Rowe-Keene.
There needs to be a correction made to Crumbly Hess his name is Crunbley Hess,Thank you again for the article
Thanks for the article. There needs to be a correction made to the Garner info. It is actually, Willard Arvel Garner, and he was married at the time. Thanks. Would there happen to be any pictures of Malcolm Garner, and family? Thank you, Tracy
I’ve made the correction. Thank you. I don’t have any photos but maybe someone else does. Good luck. — Admin
Crumbly Hess and Dexter Hess were my second cousins I reasontly visited the Hess Family Cemetery in Swords Creek Virginia for the first time I found out about this disaster by there head stones Thank you to the person or people who wrote this page it sheds a lot of lite on what had happened to them…..
Thank you for the story. Cleve Owen was my g grandfather. His name was Grover Cleaveland Owen DOB 1894 He was 46 when he died. He had 9 children.
I have a picture of him if you would like to add it.
Edyie, would you email those pictures of Cleve Owens to me? He’s my grandfather. Im trying to place you. Can you tell me some about your family? Thanks
Kelly,i dont know if you found any information on Edyie,she was our Aunt Esters granddaughter,her father is Larry Bowman
Cleve Owens was my great uncle he was the brother of my grandmother
Hello! I am a great, g, grandson of Cleve. I would love a copy of the photo and any stories that you may have. Found this doing research on the Mine Explosion that killed him.
I was married to Clifford White and my family lived in Bartley and Atwell when all of this happened. We all knew about the disasters of the mine and the school bus but the article was very informative Thanks so much for posting this. My father was Leonard Porter and he worked at Bartley #3 until we moved to Holden West Virginia. Clifford was Bonnie and Jasper white’s son. All of their children have passed. Bonnie was a strong and devoted Mother and raised her family alone.
Charles (Bob) White was a very good friend of ours in the 1990s. My kids grew up calling him “Buddy Bob”. He used to tell us about the mine explosion and growing up in Bartley.
I spoke to his son Peppy soon after Bob died in 2003. Buddy Bob was much loved and we will always miss him.
My husband’s father Willie Roberts was married to Virginia Leola White, a daughter of Jasper and Bonnie. He used to work for the mine but I think he wasn’t working there in 1940. Do you know any information about him and Virginia? I know very little and would appreciate any kind of help. Thank you in advance. Meda Roberts
I was born in English, West Virginia in 1939 and my dad worked at this mine. He was in the crew that was getting ready to enter the mine that when it exploded. He and others were in the crews that worked to try and rescue if possible but to no real avail.
We continue to live in English for about seven more months when dad was offered a job with N&W Railroad in Roanoke, Va. He has now passed away but he never forgot that explosion and the shock that went through the local community. When we visited a lot of relatives that continued to live in that area for years he never missed the opportunity to visit the mine area.
This was a great article and comments and I really appreciated it.
Ken Harris
Parrish, Fl.
I’ve heard bits-n-pieces from my relatives about all of this, but – Wow. My mother, Kay Barnette, grew up in Bartley and was 2 when the mine blew. I don’t remember the camp, but their house was *directly* across the road and down the first set of steps from the Methodist Church where my parents were married in 1960. My grandparents were Duck and Monnie, if anyone knew them. Granddaddy’s brother Alonzo was killed in the mine blast.
Michael-
I would be interested in talking with you about your branch of our family tree.
I can be reached via michaelreaser (at) gmail or on facebook as “Mike Reaser”, apparent-cousin. 🙂 I’m the one with a lengthy white beard along with not only the Barnette “hairline” but the forehead dimple as well.
Just saw this. Went to Bartley Jr High and BCHS with your Mom. Great lady and a good friend. Smarter than a whole tree full of Owls.
As an aside, your grandfather, Duck and my father played on the Bartley baseball team.
Blessings to you.
Richard
Bless you, Richard. I lost Mother this past January after a long voyage through Alzheimer’s. Please do not hesitate to share the sad news should anyone from her Bartley/BCHS familes ask of her, as I know how deeply she loved all of y’all before she was no longer able to do her “online stuff”.
If you remember her baby sister Carol Sue, my aunt now lives in Florida. Buzz me at michaelreaser (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll forward your information to her. And/or look for the long-white-bearded “Mike Reaser” on Facebook and shoot me a request there.
Additionally, buried somewhere here I have an old black-and-white picture of the … Bartley Baseball Team!!!
Wow! I grew up in Bradshaw but this is the first time I have ever read about this disaster. I knew about it but not in detail. We really should do more to remember and honor these people. My heart goes out to all of these people and their families. Don’t allow us to forget.
John H McGlothin was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Pick and Annie McGlothin—my Great Uncle—–
Claude Allen Stiltner is listed as single. In fact, he had been married for 6 months to the late Cleo Deskins, my wifes aunt. Thank you for this web site, great information.
Thank you for the information. I’ve made the correction. — Admin
I pray that God bless the families and Thank the person who wrote this so people can really know what happened that day. It sure is a sad history that will be remembered greatly.
What a sad day for the families. I just recently discovered that my grandfather The Rev Albert Keen from English WV that was 38 yrs old at the time of the mine explosion, was working there during that time, but not there that day, thank you God. How heartbreaking for the families who lost their husbands, fathers, sons, grandfathers, uncles, nephews and cousins. My heart breaks for them all for the sadness they surely feel even today in remembering their loved ones and had to deal with all aspects of what that was like for them. I’m sure their are relatives on the list of the deceased that I didn’t even know I had, more than likely. Being from such a large family of Addair’s, Sweeney’s, McGlothlin’s, Hess, Keen (e), Robinson, Dunford, Belcher, Deskins and more.
My grandfather was Newton Keene, who did pass in this terrible disaster I have never known any information about the Keene family other than my Aunt’s and Uncles. If you have any information that you would like to share, that would be fantastic!
My grandfather, Clyde L. Robertson, and uncle Clyde Elsworth Robertson, both worked at Bartley #1. They were suppose to work the second shift and were ready to go down when the explosion occurred. They stayed and helped to bring the men out. My grandmother knew that they were at the mine, but she did not know that they had not yet gone down to work. When my mother came home from school, I can’t remember if she told her mother about the explosion or if my grandmother already knew, but it was several hours before they finally knew that my grandfather and uncle were helping with recovery and not among the dead. My mother, Erma Robertson, later married Creed Jones, who also worked at the mine at that time. He had several brothers who worked there and none were in the mine. I really enjoyed this article, it is a story that I often heard throughout my childhood. I can remember the compassion and empathy that the Bartley people had anytime there was a mine accident anywhere around and I still feel that. I always watch every little bit of news that I can find when there is a mine accident anywhere in the world and still feel the kind of pain that I saw in my family’s eyes as they related this one to me. All coal miners are truly a brotherhood.
I was the youngest child of Ernest Norman Woody, Sr. I was 4 yrs. old at the time of the explosion. My brother, Ernest,Jr. died in the bus wreck. I really didn’t understand everything going on, but my sister Anna Margaret was in the bus wreck too and told us thru the yrs. how awful it was. She had an injury and she and Jr. ended
up at different hospitals and no one could tell my parents where they were.
I lost an uncle in the bus wreck, his name was Ernest Norman Woody, Jr. and aunt Anna Margret Woody was injured. Ernest Woody, Sr had just left the mines when it exploded. Thanks so much for posting this article. Though I had heard about the explosion, having grown up in Bartley, I never knew what really happened.
My grandfather, Rev. Albert Keen from English worked here at this time, but he missed work this day. I guess the Lord wanted him to preach a little longer. Homer Van Dyke mentioned in this article was my step-grandmothers husband also.
I remember when I was a little girl, my grandpa, Mastin Christian from Bartley, sharing the story of this tragic event with me. His home was close to the memorial sign.
My Father Paul Lee Mullins, worked at the mines then. He walked out of Groundhog to catch a ride. The ride, Mr. Pruitt, was late due to car trouble, Daddy went back home. Mr. Pruitt went on to work and was killed. Mom and Dad had 6 children and another on the way at that time. They had 6 more after that.
I remember your father Paul Mullins. He purchased my father’s 1937 International timber truck.
Thomas Howard Pruitt was my uncle he was married
Thomas H. Pruitt was married to Leona Hagerman. They had a daughter named Juanita.
Thanks for the info, Lois. I couldn’t remember the daughter’s name and I don’t know Uncle Tom’s birthday. My father-in-law was really messed up in the bus wreck. If memory serves, he gave his settlement to his father “Fonz McKinney” to buy his land with in North Carolina. They built a home and lived there until Fonz’s death, passing the homeplace to a granddaughter. Dad worked in the Bartley mine many years after breaking his neck on a low beam. Thanks to the writer of this article. It was very informative and sort of gave closure to a very sad era of our lives.
My late wife had an uncle who worked the Bartley mine. His name was : Arthur R. Wellman. He was single, and worked the mine that did not blow. He boarded at War, and travelled the distance to Bartley daily. He was laughing at the name of the town(War). He said it was aptly named, as the drunk miners had “war’ every Sat. Night !
I love this whole story, I’m saving it into my family Genealogy of the Atwell’s family tree. This story was written so beautiful. Thanks for this information. Some I knew of, but I got lots more from this story. Thank you so much.
I’m very interested on finding out more about P.B Atwell. More of his whole name and who he was. My grandfather owned the land that the mines and Atwell mountain lies on. His name was John Frank Atwell from Tazewell, Va. He leased out the land and mineral rights to the coal company. And as far as I know of this day. All the land still belongs to the Atwell name it is in his will that, it was to be handed down through generations and all kinship and hares. Trying to find out through the court systems how this land got sold to different people and who sold it, or if it was just taken.
Re Photo – Bonnie Kesterson White in her wedding dress
I’m curious about the identity of poster/owner of the photo because Bonnier Kesterson White was my Mother’s Grandmother.
I’ll print & mail to my (non-internet using) Mom – – she’ll be thrilled!
Re Photo – Jasper Taylor White WWI
Hmmm……….this photo used to be displayed on a dresser in the bedroom adjacent to the living room of my Grandmother’s (Virginia Leola White (Roberts) Andrews) home in Yukon, WV. From my recollection, it’s a photo of her Father – my Great Grandfather.
Re Photo – The White Family, Bartley, WV
Again……wish I knew who has possession of this photo.
I’m unfamiliar with Uncle Jasper, Mary Snow & the woman holding (what I think reads) Bob, but believe “Sis” was my grandmother, Virginia White. I do know that Freddie, Charlie-John & Joanne (sp?) were missing from this photo – possibly due to the date of the photo & birth order. The two most of us never met were Lucille (due to a school bus crash in the late 30s) and Joanne (sp?) (due to drowning – not sure when).
Obviously, I’m enthralled by this website.