The Blue Rock Mine Disaster – Part 1
Coal Formation in Harrison Township – In April, 1856, there occurred in [Muskingum] county one of the most remarkable mine disasters in the history of coal mining. The Blue Rock mines are in Harrison township in the angle formed by the stream known as Blue Rock run and the Muskingum river. The stratum of coal at this point is about four feet in thickness, the quality excellent and the formation that which miners denote "curly." The stratum of rock which overlays this vein of coal is a slaty soap-stone, light blue in color and subject to rapid disintegration when exposed to atmospheric influences, but forming a safe roof for the miner when properly protected.
Reckless Coal-Mining – The particular vein in which this disaster occurred was owned by Stephen H. Guthrie and James Owens, Jr. Former owners had taken large quantities of coal from the northern portion of the mine and the work was said to have been done in an unusually reckless manner: many of the rooms were nearly forty feet square, while the pillars were small and comparatively few in number. The hill above the mine has an altitude of about two hundred and twenty feet and the pressure from such an immense weight of earth should have dictated more than ordinary caution.
Falling in of the Mine – The falling in of the mine occurred about 11 A.M. on Friday, April 25, 1856. At that time there were some twenty persons, many of them boys, employed in the mine. Several were standing on the platform at the mouth of the entrance, others on the inside saved themselves by precipitate flight. Upon investigation it was found that 16 were safe, but that four persons were either imprisoned in the mine or crushed to death by the falling mountain. Hope preponderated strongly in favor of the former conjecture inasmuch as it was known that these persons were at work in a part of the mine from which no large amount of coal had been taken and which in consequence was supposed to be comparatively safe. The persons who escaped were: James (Duck) Menear, John Hopper, James Larrison, George Ross, George Robinson, William Edgell, Sr., Uriah McGee, William Gheen, Timothy Lyons, G. W. Simmons, and the following boys: Patrick Savage, Hiram Larrison, Franklin Ross, William Miller, James Savage, Thomas Edgell.
Annales Patrio 