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Here is a list of SOME coal mine disasters of Campbell and surrounding area

1981 12/07 No. 11 Mine, Adkins Coal Co. Knott Co., Kite, Kentucky Explosion 8
1976 03/9-11 Scotia Mine, Blue Diamond Coal Co. Letcher Co., Oven Fork, Kentucky Explosion 26
1970 12/30 Nos. 15 and 16 Mines, Finley Coal Co. Leslie Co., Hyden, Kentucky Explosion 38

1902 Coal Creek, Fraterville coal explosion killed 184

1906 a railroad car of dynamite exploded in a rail yard at Jellico in Campbell County, killing 9 people, injuring 200, and leaving 500 homeless
1911 Briceville, Cross Mountain coal explosion killed 84

1959 Scott Co March 23, 1959 Explosion

Eleven horrific mine disasters have occurred in Tennessee

Tuesday May 31, 1904

KILLED BY EXPLOSION.
Railroad Men Receive Fatal Injuries by Premature Blast. Knoxville, May 30.- Four men were killed and two fatally injured today in a dynamite explosion which occurred near Warwick, on the Knoxville, LaFollette and Jellico branch of the Louisville and Nashville road. The dead:
James Birchell and son John, John Hunley, Henry McAlister. All the dead are residents of Campbell county, Tennessee. The injured men are Hal Hunley and George Ridenour. The latter's eyes were blown out and the bodies of both are lacerated by stones. The accident was due to the carelessness of men at work in a rock cut.
The Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta Georgia

Submitted By Misty at Misty's Tree

EXPLOSION CAUSES DEATH.
Jellico Powder Company Scene of Bad Accident. Jellico, Tenn., September 23 A terrific
explosion occurred about 8 o'clock this morning, at the Jellico Powder Company's works, about a mile from this place. Lee Hill was killed and Sam Harvey is thought to be fatally wounded.
The accident occurred in the building known as the Corning depot, and the structure with Its contents was completely demolished. The clothing was burned entirely from Hill's body and his form was burned almost to a crisp. Harvey was also very severely burned. The cause of the disaster is unknown.

Source: Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA September 24, 1904

Submitted By Angela Meadows

Three Killed by Explosion

Railroad Men Receive Fatal Injuries by Premature Blast; Knoxville, May 30.- Four men
were killed and two fatally injured today in a dynamite explosion which occured near Warwick, on the Knoxville, and Jellico branch of Louisville Nashville road. The dead-
JAMES BIRCHELL AND SON JOHN
JOHN HUNLEY
HENRY MCALISTER
All the dead are residents of Campbell county, Tennessee. The injured men are Hal Hunley and George Ridenour. The latters' eyes were blown out and the bodies of both lacerated by stones. The accident was due to the carelessness of men at work In a rock cut.

Source: Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, Georgia, May 31, 1904
Submitted By Angela Meadows

TWO MEN ARE BLOWN TO PIECES

Terrific Explosion at Tennessee Railway Camp the Work of Enemies

LaFollette, Tenn., June 23 - A
terrific explosion occurred at the
railroad camp of William Park, four
miles from here early this morning.
Herd Jones and Martha Chapman
were literally blown to pieces, and
the house in which they were sleeping
was demolished. It is thought that
dynamite was placed under the house by
enemies of the pair.

Davenport Weekly Reader, Davenport, Iowa, June 24, 1902

Submitted By Angela Meadows

10 KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION; 18 ESCAPE INJURY
LaFOLLETTE, TENN. - (AP) -
Eighteen coal miners, huddling behind a hastily erected canvas barrier nearly 2,000 feet underground, survived an explosion that rocked the Etna Coal and Coke company mine and suffocated ten of their companions. The miners, fighting against the deadly fumes of "black damp" for more than eight hours, stumbled and crawled from their barricaded cell Wednesday night as rescue parties freed them. Two other miners, who had joined the barricaded group, became panic stricken and dashed from their enclosure to death from carbon monoxide
fumes 400 feet away. The explosion thundered through the East Tennessee soft coal mine
Wednesday afternoon, rocking it from tipple to the deepest seam. The dead miners were identified as Cecil Foust, John Pelezzari, Dan Garrett, George Douglas, Lawrence Hale, Albert Kitts, Lewis White. Homer Martin, Oscar Ayers and Ernest Riggs. Two miners who were almost outside the mine tunnel when the blast occurred were burned critically. Three others in another section of the mine escaped injury. Earl Turner, one of the first entombed men to reach the outside, said he herded his companions into an enclosure and erected a cloth canvas barricade to keep out the fumes. Jim Raines, 38, said the survivors "held out hope until 7 o'clock." "The air was getting bad," he said, "and the oxygen was just about gone, There was so much dust we couldn't see. Then the rescuers found us at 8:30. Some of the boys were so weak, they were crawling on their hands and knees". Herman Gilbreath related how Albert Kitts and Oscar Ayres "decided to make a break for it" from the protected tunnel, only to collapse 400 feet away and die. A coal mine official said the disaster, the worst in Tennessee since 1926, probably resulted
from ignition of gaseous fumes. However, Mine Bookkeeper, R. B. Parrott said a test by inspectors Wednesday morning revealed no traces of gas.

Bismarck Tribune, Bismarck, North Dakota, May 6, 1943
Submitted By Angela Meadows

Friday November 21, 1919

New Contracts in Jellico

Knoxville, Tenn., Nov. 20. - The United Mine Workers District 19, with headquarters at Jellico, this afternoon announced that new contracts have been signed with operators of three mines in Kentucky and that negotiations are under way for new contracts with two others. It was said by union organizers that approximately 800 men were affected by the contracts signed and that an additional 250 would be enrolled if pending negotiations with the two other companies carry through. Operators deny this indicates break in their ranks and say union estimates are far too high.
The Kingsport Times, Friday November 21, 1919 Page 1 Vol. 4 No.56

Submitted By Misty at Misty's Tree

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