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DIRECTIONS FROM KNOXVILLE:
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Take I-75 North to exit 128 Lake City |
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From Exit 128 ramp, turn right on Norris Freeway |
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Go to first traffic light and turn left on Highway 25W |
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See Lake City Library and Community Center shortly
thereafter on the left
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| Many
of the headstones of the over 200 Fraterville miners contain the inscription
"Gone but not forgotten". One more effort is underway to make
sure they are not forgotten. On Friday, 19 May 2006, at 10:00 a.m., descendants of the Fraterville miners and
the public are invited to an official ceremony to dedicate a section of
Highway 116 in the historic Fraterville area of Anderson County and unveil
the new road signs for the "Fraterville Miners Memorial Highway". Tennessee Senator Randy McNally sponsored a
Senate Resolution that was passed by the 104th General Assembly in 2005 to
rename this portion of Highway 116 in Anderson County. Senator McNally
will attend the ceremony along with coal miner descendants, students from
Briceville School, and other dignitaries and citizens. |
Photo of the
Fraterville Mine
in 1902
Click on image to enlarge |
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A portion of the farewell letter
written
by Jacob Vowell before he suffocated
in the Fraterville Mine asking to be
buried with his 14-year old son
Elbert next to the grave of little Eddie |
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Members of the Dezern family who
lost five sons and two sons-in-law
in the mining disaster of 1902 |
On May 19, 1902,
the mines grew still when the Fraterville Mine exploded.
The Fraterville tragedy was exacerbated by the
fact that male members of entire families perished including five Dezern
brothers, Peter Childress and his three sons, John McKamey and his three
sons, seven Webb’s, and eight Wallace’s. The explosion left only three
adult males alive in the town of Fraterville. Hundreds of women were
widowed and about 1000 children were left without a father. One mother lost
all five of her sons and two of her daughters lost their husbands. One young
girl lost eight uncles in the disaster. The youngest miner killed at
Fraterville was 12 years old. |
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Newspapers from around the world printed the
farewell messages and other accounts from the village of brothers, allowing
the general public to know coal miners by name for the first time.
Increased public awareness about the dangers of early 20th
century coal mining resulted in the formation of the U.S. Bureau of Mines in
1910, starting us down the long road toward safer working conditions for
miners today. In 1911, George Camp and engineers from the Bureau of Mines
played key roles in the successful rescue of five miners after the Cross
Mountain Mine exploded in Briceville. |
Click on image to enlarge:
Fraterville widows
and children
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| For more information, contact Carol Moore at
clmoore@geoe.com or 865-584-0344. |
