One of the most inhuman practices which existed in America was
the convict lease system. After the Civil War, Southern states leased their
convicts to private industry for forced labor. With the advent of the AJim
Crow Laws" most of the convicts were Black, often receiving long sentences
for minor crimes. When a convict laborer died, he was replaced by another
convict laborer at no cost to the private industry or the State. In essence,
this system put a higher value on a mule working in the mines than a man. |
Lynn
Bostic, Carol Moore, and Bill Grinder at Sharps Lane below Militia Hill at
the entrance to the abandoned Knoxville Iron Company Mine works.
Bill owns this section of property and gave us permission to go exploring. |
Water
discharging from the abandoned Knoxville Iron Company mine. Mr.
Steve Vowell owns this property and he gave us permission to go exploring. |
The first mine in Coal Creek to use convict miners was the
Knoxville Iron Company Mine located at the base of Vowell Mountain. Jobs were
plentiful in other Coal Creek mines, so the practice of using convict miners at
the Knoxville Iron Company Mine was not challenged for many years. By 1891, new
laws had been promulgated by the Tennessee Legislature which gave increased
rights to free miners. One involved the outlawing of the use of company money
(scrip) as legal tender. Another law allowed miners to elect one of their
number as check-weighman, the person entrusted with inspecting and weighing the
coal and determining which miners were paid and how much for the coal they
mined. |
In April 1891, Tennessee Mining Company in Briceville demanded
that their free miners sign a contract agreeing to abandon their legal rights.
When the miners refused, they were fired and evicted from their company-owned
homes. Tennessee Mining Company brought in Aa
class of labor that could be depended on" (i.e. convict miners). Not only
were the free miners losing their jobs, but they knew that the convicts
replacing them would meet the same fate as those at the Knoxville Iron Company
Mine, where mass graves dot the lower slopes of Vowell Mountain. This was
the start of the Coal Creek War.
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Some
of the numerous upright fieldstones marking the graves of convict miners
who died in the Knoxville Iron Company Mine in the late 1800's.
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Site
of Fort Anderson on Militia Hill.
Remnants
of building foundations at the abandoned Knoxville Iron Company Mine.
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Thousands of free miners and the entire Tennessee Militia were
involved in the Coal Creek War. Fort Anderson was built on Militia Hill
overlooking the town of Coal Creek (now Lake City) and the Knoxville Iron
Company Mine to maintain order. On numerous occasions, the free miners
surrounded contingents of the militia bringing convicts to work in the
mines. The captured soldiers and convicts were put on trains and sent
packing back to Knoxville. Near the end of the War, the free miners
captured the commander of Fort Anderson and laid siege to the fort.
General Sammuel T. Carnes, with the entire Tennessee Militia armed with heavy
artillery and Gatling guns, was sent to Coal Creek to end the War in September
1892.
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The free miners of Coal Creek lost the final battle, but they
won the War. Governor Buck Buchanan lost favor with voters due to his
ineffective handling of the situation. He lost his attempt at re-election
in 1892. Shortly thereafter, Tennessee abolished the convict lease
system. Other States soon followed, thus abolishing the system in the
South. As described in the program AChain
Gangs" on the History Channel, the free miners of Coal Creek are
credited with abolishing the convict lease system in the South, an
institution that was even worse than slavery. |
Trench
(breastworks) surrounding the site of Fort Anderson.
View from Fort Anderson looking through the Wye Gap into the town of
Coal Creek (now Lake City). During the Coal Creek War, the militia
would fire cans filled with mud onto the streets of Coal Creek as a
reminder that the militia was in control.
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Vowell
Cascade located between Militia Hill and the abandoned Knoxville Iron
Company Mine.
Trash,
tires, and appliances dumped from Vowell Mountain Lane that have deposited
at the base of Vowell Cascade.
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The most prominent remnants from the Coal
Creek War are the trenches
on Militia Hill, the iron-stained water flowing from the mine, and the graves of
the convict miners who were literally worked to death in the mine. Tires,
trash and discarded appliances are modern additions to the landscape.
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