| Briceville students have been exploring their
Welsh roots. They have sister-schools in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and
have been learning about modern Welsh customs and those of the Coal Creek
miners. In the tradition of the Welsh miners, they wrote essays and
poems about them to enter in the 2005 Coal Creek
Eisteddfod Literary
Competition. |
Tennessee Militia before
they were
captured by miners at the Battle of
Tennessee Hollow and marched
to the train depot in Coal Creek |
| During their
annual history field trip on 19 May 2005, the
103rd anniversary of the Fraterville Mine explosion, students
visited sites where historical events that involved the Welsh miners of
Coal Creek occurred. |
| We traveled to Tennessee Hollow where the old
convict stockade was located. At the site of the Tennessee Mine camp and
stockade, students re-enacted the July
20, 1891, Battle of Tennessee Hollow that started the Coal Creek War. On
that day, a delegation of miners approached the stockade, suggesting that
the Tennessee Militia and convicts surrender. When the militiamen came
out of the stockade to arrest the delegation, one of the miners waved his
bandana and 2500 miners stormed the stockade from the surrounding woods,
encircling the soldiers. |
Barry shows the students how the
miner waved his bandana to get the
2500 miners to storm the stockade |
|
Students gather where the old
Coal Creek train depot once stood |
We drove to the old Coal Creek train depot in Lake City
where students re-enacted the miners marching the Tennessee
Militia and convicts to the depot and loading them onto the train to
Knoxville. When the miners escorted the captured soldiers and convicts
along the railroad tracks from Tennessee Hollow to the Coal Creek train
depot on July 20, 1891, local women distributed food to all of them along
the way. |
| We then drove to Leach Cemetery.
Headstones of the Welsh miners of Coal Creek in Leach Cemetery show that
they emigrated from Carmarthen, St. Brides, Cardiganshire, Kidwelly, and
Blaenavon, Wales. Carmarthen and Kidwelly are located in the county of
Carmarthenshire, as are Briceville’s sister-schools. The award
ceremony for the Coal Creek Eisteddfod Literary Competition was held in Leach
Cemetery as part of the dedication ceremony for Fraterville Miners’ Circle
being placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Descendents of
the Fraterville miners attended the dedication and enjoyed participating in an authentic ceremony like the ones the
Welsh miners of Coal Creek participated in during the 1890 Knoxville
eisteddfod and the 1891 Chattanooga eisteddfod. Documents show that the
Welsh miners from Coal Creek and nine other states participated in
literary and musical competitions at those cultural festivals. The judge
announced the winners dressed as an ancient
Welsh druid. When he drew his ceremonial sword, participants didn't
know if the judge would honor the winners or lop off their heads. In the Welsh
tradition the crowd yelled, “PEACE”, to guide the judge’s decision. |
Winners of the Coal Creek
Eisteddfod Literary Competition
were selected
by a Welsh druid
at Fraterville Miners’ Circle |
| We then drove to Cracker Barrel for lunch and
then returned to the school after lunch. |
