Coal Mining, Richmond, Virginia and Co. Durham
£576
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 5 September 2007 at 12:00 BST
Description
Manuscript diary of John Smith, mining overseer, from Sept. 22 - Dec. 31st 1839 and Nov. 10 -Dec. 26 [1840?], ink and pencil, 8vo, contemporary sheep, clasp, 158pp., covering the journey to and from the USA and including an account of a visit to the Black Heath coalmines of Chesterfield County, Virginia, "the negroes... sing all the time that they work... the coal is 16 yards thick but there is only 12 foot taken... sometimes the rufe and pavement do meet within 3 foot of each other... The rufe was... falling and the gap were the strongest that I did ever see, if you went 1 yard before the centre it would knock you down in a moment". Smith mentions experimenting with gas burning in lamps and trying "to carry in the Are" which due to the falling roof was too dangerous, getting "an old negro to mortace the props and crown tree and last it over with strong timber" to make it safe. Eventually he makes it over the fall "did see two or three boys but we can not get any of them out on account of the fall". Smith visits another mine on fire "lately there was 8 negroes burnt to death" "We got 16 bodys out to night, we have boxes we take down and putte the bodys in but they are sore gone... when we do lift them sume times the heads and sume times the hands and feat do fall off"
Footnote
Note: A short but evocative diary of mine experiences in Virginia and Co. Durham with grim details of the human cost of coal mining.