Tour
attendees gather at Briceville School to board the tour buses.
Coal
Creek Watershed Foundation volunteer Carol Moore and AmeriCorp*VISTA Kylene
McLucas register attendees.
First
stop was Longfield Cemetery where everyone gathered around Jacob and Elbert
Vowell's headstone.
Tour
guide Barry Thacker, P.E. tells of Jacob Vowell and Powell Harmon leaving farewell
notes to their loved ones before perishing. Both are buried in
Longfield Cemetery.
Linda
Gunderson, Tony Thomas and T.J. Albert sing "When the Mines Grew Still in Fratersville".
Webb
family descendants gather in front of a headstone of one of the five Webbs
killed at Fraterville.
Descendants
of Jacob Vowell gather at the grave where he is buried with his son Elbert
in the same grave. They are buried next to his son Little Eddy as his
farewell note requested.
Next
stop on the tour was Leach Cemetery where Boy Scout Drew Justice unveiled
his Eagle Scout Project, a kiosk mapping out the graves of the miners buried
in Leach Cemetery.
Lake
City Boy Scout Troop 120 have cleaned and cared for the miners' headstones
for the past two years.
Barry
Thacker, P.E. heads everyone to the monument in Leach Cemetery.
The
group gathers around the Miner's Circle, many searching for their family.
Flags
were placed at the miners' headstones by the Boy Scouts.
Rubbings
were made of family names. Rubbing of Thomas Cooper and Charles Carden
being made here.
Descendants
of William Murray gather around his headstone.
DeZern
family descendants. DeZern was spelled several different ways.
Five brothers and two of their brothers-in-law perished that day.
Tony
Thomas, Linda Gunderson and T.J. Albert played music as guests studied headstones
and got to know missing family.
Next
stop was at the Itinerant Miners' cemetery in the back yard of Mr. and Mrs.
Owen Bailey. See one of the field stones marking the grave of
itinerant miner at far right next to tree.
Mr.
Bailey is shown in blue jacket and cap. He told the story of how
the unknown miners were buried at the site where their bodies were brought
out of the mine by train.
More
music was performed.
The
group leaves the Itinerant Cemetery to hike to the Fraterville Mine.
Walden Ridge can be seen in the background.
There
were many solemn faces as we gathered at the entrance of the mine as
thoughts went to 100 years ago and how it must have felt at that time to
lose so many men and boys.
The
crowd gathered at the entrance of Fraterville Mine. Group at far back
of photo are standing where the entrance of the mine was located.
View of group
Reporter
Yvette Martinez and cameraman Brian from ABC's WATE-TV Knoxville. Mrs.
Viva Patterson and Mrs. Opal Harris were interviewed.
Barry
Thacker, P.E., Yvette Martinez, and Brian finish up the day in front of the
monument at Leach Cemetery.