Emergence
The emergence of the Dayton Coal and Iron Company in then Smith’s Crossroads (later Dayton) in the early 1880’s influenced the life of my ancestors. They saw their small community explode from 250 to 5000 inhabitants within a short 5-year time span. Coal mining would become a way of life that many in the area would engage in over the course of their lives.
The company provided many opportunities, and many took advantage of that working in the mines – transitioning from a life of farming to a life of working in the mines. I’m sure they probably still farmed the land they lived on but working the mines became the livelihood for many.
From the census records published between 1910 and 1940 of Rhea County, Tennessee – I find the following men who were connected to my family – some are ancestors, some are cousins, uncles or married to cousins – the list is not meant to be exhaustive but to show that my family embraced the coal mining activities as their livelihood:
- James Michael Byerley
- Joseph Leffew
- Rufus Couch
- William C. Couch
- Thomas Byerley
- Clifford Rosel Leffew
- Robert Hensley
- James Hensley
- Thomas Caraway
- James M. Cox
- Harvey B. Cox
- John L. Henderson
- Marler Yates
Future Spouses Meet
Working in the mines was critical in terms of allowing my paternal grandparents, Robert Roscoe Barley and Delia France Young to meet each other. When the mines at Dayton were in limbo my great-grandfather, James Michael Byerley moved his family to Campbell County, Tennessee. It was there that his family meet the Young and Lemarr families, which resulted with the marriage of Robert and Delia. Members of Deila’s family worked in the mines located just outside of LaFollette, Tennessee. These included Silas Lemar, Vachel Lemarr and Sam Young.
Mining Accidents
Accidents often occurred within the mines and due to the nature of the working conditions, some of those could result in many lost lives on the same day. Some accidents involved only one loss of life. Such was the case of my Great Grandfather Joseph Leffew.
Near the end of October in 1935, Joseph Leffew was injured by falling slate in the Cumberland mines. News of the accident was captured in “The Dayton Herald” published on 30 October 1935.
On 23 December 1943, eight years after the first accident, Joseph Leffew, age 63, once again had slate fall on him. This time he did not survive the accident.
Almost two years later, Rosel Leffew, Joseph’s son, would also lose his life in a coal mining related accident. That accident happened on the 13th of September in 1945.
