PRESSLEACH

FRATERVILLE MINE DISASTER
FAMILY REUNION

3502 Overlook Circle -- Knoxville, TN 37909
865-291-2898
www.coalcreekaml.com

Press Release by the
Coal Creek Watershed Foundation, Inc.
September 15, 2000

The Fraterville Mine Disaster happened on May 19, 1902. The men who died left about 1000 fatherless children. What became of these children? Where did they go? How dispersed are their offspring? How many descendants of these miners are alive today?

We want to know the answers to these questions. On Sunday, May 19, 2002, the 100^th anniversary of the disaster, we will host a family reunion for the descendants of the miners who died in the Fraterville disaster. Over the next 20 months, volunteers will be working with the Boy Scouts of America to identify descendants and invite them to attend the reunion.

Churches in the Coal Creek watershed had memorial services on June 8, 1902, for those who perished at Fraterville. The attached program of these services will be distributed to churches in the Coal Creek watershed for those who desire to repeat these services for the descendants attending the family reunion.

Did you know that the Fraterville Mine Disaster of 1902 remains the worst disaster in the history of mining in the South? The official number of fatalities is listed as 184 with no survivors. Newspaper articles from 1902 list the total dead at 214, accounting for unnamed transient miners who also perished. Only three men were left alive in the town following the disaster. The dead miners left 150 widows and nearly 1000 fatherless children.

One of the miners killed in the disaster, Powell Harmon, lived long enough to write a farewell letter. In it, he asked his sons to never work in the mines. Nine years later, his son Conda Harmon died in the 1911 Cross Mountain Disaster in Briceville that claimed 84 lives. These two mine disasters make Coal Creek the third worst disaster site in the history of mining in the United States.

According to Rev. Roy Daugherty, Coal Creek Watershed Foundation steering committee member: "Briceville, Fraterville, Beech Grove, and Lake City share one history. In that sense, we are all one community, all one watershed. As one watershed, we all need to work together. The Fraterville Mine Disaster Family Reunion is a fitting start to our unified efforts to improve the quality of life for those who live in the Coal Creek watershed".

In addition to locating and inviting descendants to attend the family reunion, Boy Scouts will be performing remedial work at the cemeteries and the abandoned Fraterville mine site. For example, Drew Justice of Troop 120 in Lake City is doing his Eagle Scout project at the Miners Circle in Leach Cemetery where 89 miners who died at Fraterville are buried. Drew is leading an effort to clean and repair the tombstones and monuments in the Miners Circle. He will be developing a map showing where the miners are buried and include historical information and photographs obtained from his research. Details of the next scheduled work day at Miners Circle are described in the attached flyer.

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