Jefferson County, Alabama - Newspaper Articles
Well Known Negress of Irondale
Meets Horrible Death.
Birmingham, June 24--(Special)--Sallie Thompson, a well known negress who lived for several years at Irondale, several miles east of Birmingham in Jefferson county, was buried today in the negro cemetery at that place.
She died last night late from injuries received by being struck by the Seaboard Air Line passenger train last afternoon. The woman had watched train after train pass Irondale. She had had narrow escapes. Yesterday she was walking on the track and to all indications heard the passenger train coming. She ran a little distance on the track and just as she was getting off the track, she was struck.
Her body shot into the air. When physicians reached her, a short while afterwards, they shook their heads and said she could not live and today the funeral took place. The Montgomery Advertiser, June 25, 1906
Tail-end Collision
Double-Header Freight Ran Into a Local at Irondale.
A tail-end collision occurred on the Alabama Great Southern railroad at Irondale at 12:30 o'clock this morning.
A double-header freight coming south ran into a local freight, demolishing the caboose and three or four cars. One of the engines attached to the double-header was turned over down an embankment.
Engineer George M. Schwend was bruised up considerably, but sustained no serious injuries. The Age Herald, March 16, 1900
Birmingham, June 24--(Special)--Sallie Thompson, a well known negress who lived for several years at Irondale, several miles east of Birmingham in Jefferson county, was buried today in the negro cemetery at that place.
She died last night late from injuries received by being struck by the Seaboard Air Line passenger train last afternoon. The woman had watched train after train pass Irondale. She had had narrow escapes. Yesterday she was walking on the track and to all indications heard the passenger train coming. She ran a little distance on the track and just as she was getting off the track, she was struck.
Her body shot into the air. When physicians reached her, a short while afterwards, they shook their heads and said she could not live and today the funeral took place. The Montgomery Advertiser, June 25, 1906
Tail-end Collision
Double-Header Freight Ran Into a Local at Irondale.
A tail-end collision occurred on the Alabama Great Southern railroad at Irondale at 12:30 o'clock this morning.
A double-header freight coming south ran into a local freight, demolishing the caboose and three or four cars. One of the engines attached to the double-header was turned over down an embankment.
Engineer George M. Schwend was bruised up considerably, but sustained no serious injuries. The Age Herald, March 16, 1900
Dropped Dead On An Electric Car
J. T. Watson, a Corpulent White man, Attacked with Apoplexy
He Appeared Overheated
Was Employed as Timekeeper by the Birmingham Water Works Company, and Was Coming From Work-Family at Irondale.
J. T. Watson, a white man employed by the Birmingham Water Works Company, as a timekeeper, dropped dead about 6 o'clock yesterday evening in a South Highlands car, near Avenue H and Twentieth street.
Watson, who was very corpulent, had been engaged with a force of hands during the day in laying a main on the South Highlands, and was coming to the city to make his report to the superintendent at the company's office in Third avenue.
He boarded an incoming car and appeared to be very much overheated, but took a seat, and although he breathed with difficulty, soon appeared more at ease. Suddenly, however, he fell back in his seat with an epoleptic stroke, and in a few moments was dead.
The body was brought to the city and taken off the car in front of the Warner-Smiley Undertaking Establishment in Twentieth street, where it is being held for instructions.
Deceased is said to have a family residing in Irondale and an effort was made to notify them of his death.
Watson was about 40 years of age and had been in the employ of the Water Company for some time. Birmingham Age Herald, March 30, 1901.
Killed By A Premature Explosion
Will Lyde, a miner, was killed at the Sloss ore mnes, near Irondale, Wednesday by a premature explosion of dynamite. Birmingham State Herald, June 19, 1896.
Too Slow and Was Struck.
A negro named John Reed was struck by an Alabama Great Southern train near Irondale yesterday morning and his right foot mashed, rendering a partial amputation necessary. His left leg was also broken and his left elbow badly bruised. He was working in the section gang and was in the middle of the track and the accident is said to be due to his tardiness in getting off the track. Birmingham State Herald, July 12, 1896.
ALL ARE DEAD IN MULGA MINE.
Lives of Forty-one Snuffed Out.
Rescue Work is Hopeless
Superintendent Johns Saw Many of The Bodies
Twelve White Men and a Number of Negroes Parish in an Alabama Plant--Pathetic Scenes are Enacted.
Birmingham, Ala., April 21--A bulletin issued at midnight from the scene of the mine accident at Mulga recapitulates the casualties list at five dead, and forty-two or forty-three miners are the probable number of victims yet remaining in the workings.
At 9:30 o'clock tonight there were five men recovered from the mine. Three of them were negroes and two were white. One of the white men was identified as M. Bishop, the others were burned and mangled beyond recognition.
The air current being pumped into the mine has been reversed and the crews are working now with perfect ease. The negro men are working side by side with the white men at rescue work. It is expected that the bodies will be recovered and brought to the surface by midnight.
Mine Inspector Neal arrived about noon today and descended into the mine at 2:30 o'clock. When he returned he made the statement that he did not believe there was a live man in the mine. All hope has been abandoned of rescuing any one alive since the second rescuing party, which went down at 1:30 o'clock this morning werer brought to the surface unconscious from the effects of the fire damp which has penetrated every crack and cranny of the mines since the explosion.
An accurate list of the names of the men entombed in the mine has not yet been obtained. It will not be learned who are shut in the horrible tomb of death perhaps for a day or two.
Pathetic scenes were witnessed about the mouth of Shaft No. 2 all day today as the rescuing parties were lowered time after time only to be brought back to the surface unconscious from the fire damp. A crowd of 1,000 people had gathered by noon today to watch the work of the rescuers.
The mountain abou the mine and hill across the valley were crowded with spectators anxious to see the most gruesome sight witnessed in Alabama for many years. Close about the ropes which held the crowd back stood mothers, sisters, doctors, sweethearts, fathers, and sons of the dead men below. The roads leading to the mines were black with the crowds of people on foot, automobiles and rigs of every description, all hurrying to the scene of death. By 4 o'clock this evening it was estimated that at least 7,000 souls crowded teh hills with all faces turned toward one spot of intense interest--a little black hole in the ground which marked the mouth of Shaft No. 2, out of which it is now supposed the bodice will be raised.
Pathetic Scene Towards noon, the women who knew their husbands were in the mines at the time of the explosion, became exhausted and wearied from the strain and worry and most of them went home to try to find much needed rest and sleep if possible. All the time, however, new rescuing parties are being lowered as exhausted ones are brought to the surface and the battle against great odds for the rescuing of the other workmen is being carried on by the miners.
All the rescue work is being conducted from Shaft No. 2, shaft No. 1 being practically dismantled. The two mines are connected underground.
Twelve white men and thirty-two negroes were in No. 1 at the time of the explosion at 9:15 o'clock last night. The white men who are known to have been in the mine and who, experts declare, undoubtedly are dead, are:
Morgan, Johns, mine foreman, who has a family.
John Lisk, machinist, survived by a wife.
John Mehaffey, mining contractor, unmarried..
Jim Bishop, notorman, wife.
Luther Stephenson, motorman, wife.
T. Defoore, wife.
Tom Washington, family.
John Herron and Will Rivers, single, and three Italians.
At the present rate of rescue work it is not believed that any of the bodies will be recovered tonight. Fresh air is being pumped into both shafts, but the black damp continues to form, and one party after another is driven back to the surface.
From every near-by mining camp, men are flocking to the scene of the disaster and there is no lack of volunteers for the perilous work of relief.
The Mulga Mines aer the property of the Birmingham Coal and Iron Company, which is closely allied to the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad. The mines have been in operation little more than a year. They represent an investment of about $2,000,000 and have been pronounced models at modern mining engineering. The property loss will be large, but an estimate at this time is impossible.
Sam Johns, Superintendent of the Mulga Mines, and the leader of the first rescue party, is still in a critical condition from inhaling the black damp. He is a brother of Mine Foreman, Morgan Johns one of the entombed men.
James Hillhouse, State Mine Inspector, went down in the cage at 1 o'clock. Robert Neal, assistant Mine Inspector, made the descent later this afternoon.
The relief corps of the United States Geological Survey, stationed at Knoxville, reached Mulga tonight.
It is now believed that the explosion was caused by a "windy shot." The cold weather of the last few days had dried out the mine and allowed an accumulation of dust, so some of the miners think. Although flames shot high into the air from both shafts, it is the opinion of the miners that the black damp, forming after the explosion killed all those in the mine. The Montgomery Advertiser, April 22, 1910
BOY DROWNS AT MOUNT PINSON.
Boat Overturns and Frank Dunn, 16 Years Old, Attending Boy's Industrial School Is Victim.
Birmingham, Ala., July 12--Frank Dunn, a 16 year old boy, attending the Boy's Industrial School, beyond East Lake in this county, was drowned this morning in Silver Lake, near Mount Pinson when a boat in which he and two other boys had been riding overturned. The other two boys managed to swim to shore while the Dunn boy sand and was drowned. His body was received shortly afterwards.
Frank Dunn had been an attendant at the school for three years, being sent up from Birmingham. The students of the Boy's Industrial School are on a camp at Mount Pinson. Superintendent D. M Weakley gives the boys every latitude and today as usual the boys were enjoynig themselves boating on the lake. The boat overturned and the three were spilled into the water. Two could swim and the other could not, and the result was as stated above. The drowned boy has a mother and brothers in Birmingham. The Montgomery Advertiser, November 11, 1911.
PROVED FATAL
John Allison, Who Was Stabbed At Adamsville, Dies.
John Allison, colored, was brought to Birmingham from Adamsville on the Winston accommodation of the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham and taken to one of the hospitals. He had a severe wound in the left breast, the result of a quarrel with another negro named Johnsonl, which occurred at Adamsville Monday night. It is said that Allison and Johnson quarreled about a woman and that Johnson stabbed Allison with a large knife or dirk. Allison died soon after arriving in the city. Birmingham Age Herald, March 13, 1901.
Died From His Injuries.
William B. Boisclair, the engineer who was injured in the wreck on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham railroad, near Adamsville, is dead. Labor Advocate, July 16, 1898.
Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Tuesday Nov 17 1829
All newspaper articles transcribed from referenced sources by C. Anthony unless otherwise noted.
J. T. Watson, a Corpulent White man, Attacked with Apoplexy
He Appeared Overheated
Was Employed as Timekeeper by the Birmingham Water Works Company, and Was Coming From Work-Family at Irondale.
J. T. Watson, a white man employed by the Birmingham Water Works Company, as a timekeeper, dropped dead about 6 o'clock yesterday evening in a South Highlands car, near Avenue H and Twentieth street.
Watson, who was very corpulent, had been engaged with a force of hands during the day in laying a main on the South Highlands, and was coming to the city to make his report to the superintendent at the company's office in Third avenue.
He boarded an incoming car and appeared to be very much overheated, but took a seat, and although he breathed with difficulty, soon appeared more at ease. Suddenly, however, he fell back in his seat with an epoleptic stroke, and in a few moments was dead.
The body was brought to the city and taken off the car in front of the Warner-Smiley Undertaking Establishment in Twentieth street, where it is being held for instructions.
Deceased is said to have a family residing in Irondale and an effort was made to notify them of his death.
Watson was about 40 years of age and had been in the employ of the Water Company for some time. Birmingham Age Herald, March 30, 1901.
Killed By A Premature Explosion
Will Lyde, a miner, was killed at the Sloss ore mnes, near Irondale, Wednesday by a premature explosion of dynamite. Birmingham State Herald, June 19, 1896.
Too Slow and Was Struck.
A negro named John Reed was struck by an Alabama Great Southern train near Irondale yesterday morning and his right foot mashed, rendering a partial amputation necessary. His left leg was also broken and his left elbow badly bruised. He was working in the section gang and was in the middle of the track and the accident is said to be due to his tardiness in getting off the track. Birmingham State Herald, July 12, 1896.
ALL ARE DEAD IN MULGA MINE.
Lives of Forty-one Snuffed Out.
Rescue Work is Hopeless
Superintendent Johns Saw Many of The Bodies
Twelve White Men and a Number of Negroes Parish in an Alabama Plant--Pathetic Scenes are Enacted.
Birmingham, Ala., April 21--A bulletin issued at midnight from the scene of the mine accident at Mulga recapitulates the casualties list at five dead, and forty-two or forty-three miners are the probable number of victims yet remaining in the workings.
At 9:30 o'clock tonight there were five men recovered from the mine. Three of them were negroes and two were white. One of the white men was identified as M. Bishop, the others were burned and mangled beyond recognition.
The air current being pumped into the mine has been reversed and the crews are working now with perfect ease. The negro men are working side by side with the white men at rescue work. It is expected that the bodies will be recovered and brought to the surface by midnight.
Mine Inspector Neal arrived about noon today and descended into the mine at 2:30 o'clock. When he returned he made the statement that he did not believe there was a live man in the mine. All hope has been abandoned of rescuing any one alive since the second rescuing party, which went down at 1:30 o'clock this morning werer brought to the surface unconscious from the effects of the fire damp which has penetrated every crack and cranny of the mines since the explosion.
An accurate list of the names of the men entombed in the mine has not yet been obtained. It will not be learned who are shut in the horrible tomb of death perhaps for a day or two.
Pathetic scenes were witnessed about the mouth of Shaft No. 2 all day today as the rescuing parties were lowered time after time only to be brought back to the surface unconscious from the fire damp. A crowd of 1,000 people had gathered by noon today to watch the work of the rescuers.
The mountain abou the mine and hill across the valley were crowded with spectators anxious to see the most gruesome sight witnessed in Alabama for many years. Close about the ropes which held the crowd back stood mothers, sisters, doctors, sweethearts, fathers, and sons of the dead men below. The roads leading to the mines were black with the crowds of people on foot, automobiles and rigs of every description, all hurrying to the scene of death. By 4 o'clock this evening it was estimated that at least 7,000 souls crowded teh hills with all faces turned toward one spot of intense interest--a little black hole in the ground which marked the mouth of Shaft No. 2, out of which it is now supposed the bodice will be raised.
Pathetic Scene Towards noon, the women who knew their husbands were in the mines at the time of the explosion, became exhausted and wearied from the strain and worry and most of them went home to try to find much needed rest and sleep if possible. All the time, however, new rescuing parties are being lowered as exhausted ones are brought to the surface and the battle against great odds for the rescuing of the other workmen is being carried on by the miners.
All the rescue work is being conducted from Shaft No. 2, shaft No. 1 being practically dismantled. The two mines are connected underground.
Twelve white men and thirty-two negroes were in No. 1 at the time of the explosion at 9:15 o'clock last night. The white men who are known to have been in the mine and who, experts declare, undoubtedly are dead, are:
Morgan, Johns, mine foreman, who has a family.
John Lisk, machinist, survived by a wife.
John Mehaffey, mining contractor, unmarried..
Jim Bishop, notorman, wife.
Luther Stephenson, motorman, wife.
T. Defoore, wife.
Tom Washington, family.
John Herron and Will Rivers, single, and three Italians.
At the present rate of rescue work it is not believed that any of the bodies will be recovered tonight. Fresh air is being pumped into both shafts, but the black damp continues to form, and one party after another is driven back to the surface.
From every near-by mining camp, men are flocking to the scene of the disaster and there is no lack of volunteers for the perilous work of relief.
The Mulga Mines aer the property of the Birmingham Coal and Iron Company, which is closely allied to the Atlanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railroad. The mines have been in operation little more than a year. They represent an investment of about $2,000,000 and have been pronounced models at modern mining engineering. The property loss will be large, but an estimate at this time is impossible.
Sam Johns, Superintendent of the Mulga Mines, and the leader of the first rescue party, is still in a critical condition from inhaling the black damp. He is a brother of Mine Foreman, Morgan Johns one of the entombed men.
James Hillhouse, State Mine Inspector, went down in the cage at 1 o'clock. Robert Neal, assistant Mine Inspector, made the descent later this afternoon.
The relief corps of the United States Geological Survey, stationed at Knoxville, reached Mulga tonight.
It is now believed that the explosion was caused by a "windy shot." The cold weather of the last few days had dried out the mine and allowed an accumulation of dust, so some of the miners think. Although flames shot high into the air from both shafts, it is the opinion of the miners that the black damp, forming after the explosion killed all those in the mine. The Montgomery Advertiser, April 22, 1910
BOY DROWNS AT MOUNT PINSON.
Boat Overturns and Frank Dunn, 16 Years Old, Attending Boy's Industrial School Is Victim.
Birmingham, Ala., July 12--Frank Dunn, a 16 year old boy, attending the Boy's Industrial School, beyond East Lake in this county, was drowned this morning in Silver Lake, near Mount Pinson when a boat in which he and two other boys had been riding overturned. The other two boys managed to swim to shore while the Dunn boy sand and was drowned. His body was received shortly afterwards.
Frank Dunn had been an attendant at the school for three years, being sent up from Birmingham. The students of the Boy's Industrial School are on a camp at Mount Pinson. Superintendent D. M Weakley gives the boys every latitude and today as usual the boys were enjoynig themselves boating on the lake. The boat overturned and the three were spilled into the water. Two could swim and the other could not, and the result was as stated above. The drowned boy has a mother and brothers in Birmingham. The Montgomery Advertiser, November 11, 1911.
PROVED FATAL
John Allison, Who Was Stabbed At Adamsville, Dies.
John Allison, colored, was brought to Birmingham from Adamsville on the Winston accommodation of the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham and taken to one of the hospitals. He had a severe wound in the left breast, the result of a quarrel with another negro named Johnsonl, which occurred at Adamsville Monday night. It is said that Allison and Johnson quarreled about a woman and that Johnson stabbed Allison with a large knife or dirk. Allison died soon after arriving in the city. Birmingham Age Herald, March 13, 1901.
Died From His Injuries.
William B. Boisclair, the engineer who was injured in the wreck on the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham railroad, near Adamsville, is dead. Labor Advocate, July 16, 1898.
Republican Compiler (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania) Tuesday Nov 17 1829
In
Jefferson county, Alabama, recently, a Mr. Buchanan entered his dwelling and
found his wife hanging by a skein of yarn, having just kicked the chair from
under her. Instead of cutting her down he went to a distant neighbor, a
mile off, and informed him of it, alleging that it was contrary to law to cut
her down! Submitted by Nancy Piper
All newspaper articles transcribed from referenced sources by C. Anthony unless otherwise noted.
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