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This project is a memorial to all the miners who died in the various disasters of the Chesterfield County, Virginia coal mines. The project's goal is to create a list of the men who died in each disaster with a link to each man's Geni profile.
1839 Black Heath mine explosion
This explosion on March 18, 1839 occurred at the Maidenhead pits of the Black Heath Company of Colliers. The explosion happened in a 700 feet deep shaft that was worked by two superintendents (the only ones named in the explosion) and an unknown number of African slave miners. There are conflicting sources on how many miners were in the pits and how many survived. The newspapers state that 40 were in the mine while other books state that there were 56. The sources that say 56 were in the mine say 3 survived however the newspapers lead one to believe that 4 men survived. Overall, it can be said that the 2 superintendents died and all but 3 or 4 of the miners died.
- John Rynard (a Scotchman)
- John Hancock (a native of Chesterfield County)
1844 Black Heath explosion
Occurred on June 14, 1844 at around 1:35 AM at the Maidenhead (Black Heath) pits of the Chesterfield Coal and Iron Mining Company. 12 men (4 Englishmen and 8 slaves, of which 4 belonged to Mr. A. Reid, 2 to Mr. Malone, 1 to Mr. Page, and 1 to Mr. Drake) were in the mine and 11 were killed. Joseph Jewett was the only miner who escaped with his life. 3 of the Englishmen and 6 of the slaves were found in the mine.
- Jonathan Jewett - He is listed in the 1855 Midlothian explosion as the deceased father of one of the killed.
1850 Clover Hill explosion
Occurred on November 30, 1850 at Cox's Pit in Clover Hill. 7 men were killed.
1851 Clover Hill explosion
Occurred on May 10, 1851 at about 2:00 AM in the central pit of the Clover Hill Coal Mining and Iron Manufacturing Company coal pits. 8 men were in the pits and all were killed. One was white and 7 were slaves (2 belonged to Sen. James H. Cox, the owner of the mine, and 5 were hired by him).
1854 Black Heath explosion
Occurred on May 15, 1854 at a 720 feet deep shaft at the Maidenhead (Black Heath) pits of the Chesterfield Coal and Iron Mining Company. 19 men were killed.
- Thomas Tompkins 1810 - 1854
- Robert Williams 1820 - 1854
- Robert E. Crostic 1831 - 1854
- William Palmer - 1806 England
- Ezekiel Dobbins - 1820 Ireland
- John Jones - 1813 Wales, England
- Albert Branch - 1826 England
- (Hiram) Henry Godsey - 1818 VA
- John Thurmon - 1824 VA
- Henry Vest (Vase) - 1828 Wales, England
- Moses Syrah -
- John Kyper - 1828 VA
- Jeremiah Kain -
- Thomas Brown - 1844 or 1836 VA
- Samuel Vest - 1833 VA
- John Elliot - 1834 or 1839 VA
- William Elliot - 1836 or 1839 VA
- Joseph Shaw - 1841 VA/his father, Wright Shaw (b. 1823 England) died in a similar explosion in 1851
- Jabez Peacock
1855 Midlothian explosion
Occurred on March 19, 1855 at about 5:00 PM at the Pump shaft (777 feet deep) of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company mines. Caused by breaching an old shaft (which had accumulated gas in it) with a controlled explosion. This gas then ignited and raced through the entire mine. There were 50 miners in the pit. About 34 men were killed and 12 were badly burned.
- Jonathan Jewett - he was the son of the Jonathan Jewett who died in the explosion of 1844.
- Samuel Gouldin (overseer of pit hands) - 1821 England
- John Lester - 1822 VA
- John Evans - 1832 VA
- Joseph Howe -
- William Wright -
- 33 Black Miners (12 owned by MCM Co.)
1856 Clover Hill explosion
17 men were killed.
1856 Midlothian Drowning Incident
Occurred on December 12, 1856 at around 1:00 AM at the Midlothian Coal Mining Company mines. 12 men died.
- William Dunn
- James Farely
- Thomas Lester
- J. W. Pringle
- Edward Dawson
- Bristol White (slave of MCM Co.)
- Thomas Jackson (slave of MCM Co.)
- Daniel Washington (slave of MCM Co.)
- Edward Mills (slave of Nicholas Mills)
- Henry Dickinson (slave of Nicholas Mills)
- John Goode (slave of Mr. Goode)
- Mark Martin (slave of William E. Martin)
1859 Bright Hope explosion
Occurred on April 14, 1859 at the Bright Hope mine owned by the Clover Hill Railroad Company. 9 men were killed.
1860 Midlothian explosion
Occurred on July 20, 1860 in the morning at the Midlothian Coal Mining Company mines. 1 man (surnamed Hall) died when he walked into an old drift (where gas had accumulated) with an open lamp. The gas was instantly ignited and the miner perished.
1863 Clover Hill explosion
Occurred on November 30, 1863 at the Raccoon pit at Clover Hill. 17 men were killed.
1867 Bright Hope explosion
Occurred on April 3, 1867 at around 2:30 PM at the Bright Hope mine (opened 1857 and had two shafts that were 800 feet deep) owned by the Clover Hill Railroad Company. 69 men were killed.
- John Weal (gasman) - b. 1832
- Peter Logan (digger)
- George W. Moore (digger) - b. 1828
- Jim Harper (trailer)
- Albert Isaacs (trailer)
- Nat. Roberts
- George Puckett
- Thomas Puckett
- John Bowman
- John T. Kerner
- William Goode
- Jim Puckett
- Thomas Cosby
- Samuel Fowler
- Nick. Hackett
- William Cosby (trailer)
- William B. Robinson
- Hiram Magruder
- George Traylor
- William A. Cole
- Thomas Layton
- Patrick Donahoe
- Jim Lockett
- William Thomas
- Beverly Amonett
- Joseph Condrey
- Joseph Clayton
- John Ainsko
- Joe Ainsko
Colored
- Curtis Cox
- Beverly Anderson
- Giles Patterson
- Gus. Cox
- Dick Hobson
- Andrew Branch b. 1846
- Henry Finney
- John Artis
- Washington Hurt
- William Simms
- Asa Coleman
- Edmund Jones
- Simon Stokes
- John Owens
- Randall Jackson
- William Thweatt
- Price Jackson
- Charles Jefferson
- Doctor Foulkes
- Redd Jefferson
- Wiley Gibbs
- Ellet Trent
- Edmund Johnson
- Joe Turpin
- Phil. Boisseau
- Henry Boisseau
- Aaron Wood
- Elijah McTyre
- Jim Selden
- Daniel Langford
- Robert Belman
- Frank Miles
- Albert Jones
- Dick Mann
- Daniel Osborne
- Henry Owens
- Henry Howard
- Jordan Gates
- William Kelly
1876 Midlothian explosion
Occurred on May 20, 1876 at 1:22 PM at the Grove shaft of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company mines. 8 men were killed and 5 were wounded.
- James Corneau (foreman) -
- Charles Holder - 1830 England
- John Marshall - 1858 VA
- Thomas Golden - 1850 VA
- Robert Hall - 1831 England
- Joseph Hendley -
- William Morris - 1849? VA
- Philip Elliott - 1851 VA
1882 Midlothian explosion
Occurred on February 3, 1882 in the Grove shaft of the Midlothian Coal Mining Company mines. The Grove shaft was 640 feet deep. There were 32 men working inside the mine and all of them died.
- William Marshall (pit boss) - 1835 England
- Thomas Hall - 1845 VA
- George Jewett Jr. - 1861 VA
- Andrew Jewett - 1854 VA
- James Brown - 1852 DC
- James Hall - 1848 VA
- Joe Cournow - 1860 VA
- John Morris - 1856 England
- Joseph Shields - 1832
- Richard Cogbill - 1816
- Richard Morgan - 1851 VA
- Robert Binford - 1840 VA
- Samuel Cox - 1825 VA
- Pleasant Stewart - 1859 VA
- Joseph Cunluff - 1820 VA
- Beverly Brooks - 1842 VA
- Alexander Logan - 1842 VA
- Peter Harper - 1847 VA
- Major Pollard - 1852 VA
- Solomon Taylor - 1845 VA
- Squire Bright - 1834 VA
- John Green - 1822 VA
- Lewis Hobbs - 1831 VA
- Daniel Hammond - 1850
- Isham Graves - 1857 VA
- Edward Ross - 1833 VA
- Robert Booker - 1864
- Thomas Summels - 1850 VA
- Albert Hughes - 1854 VA
- James Mills - 1853 VA
- Jeff. Coleman - 1837
- Fred. Anderson - 1859