The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1874-06-23
Written for The Spirit of Democracy
LETTER RFROMATlIENS COUNTY
History of the Mining Troubles
at NeIsenViile.
JACKSONVILLE, Ono, June IA, 1877

History of the Mining Troubles
at NeIsenviile.
JACKSONVILLE, ONO, June IA, 1874.
. ED. SPIRIT; This place having been
the center of excitable news for several
days past, perhaps description Of the
place and lis trouble will be readable TO
the people of Monroe County.
/ The town of Nelson,illc is situated
in the mining district OF Athens coun-
! ty, on the Hooking river, and is pros
porous growing village, surrounded by
broken hjlly country with very poor
land, but in the bosom of these hills
are deposits of coal which make it
place of untold wealth The veins Of
coal are from six to seven feet in thick
ness and its quality is equal to any in
the country, with q railroad and canal
both right at the points where it is
mined 1t has every facility for be-
coming wealthy place
Since April lst difficulties have ex
listed between the miners and the ope
rators, to such an extent that nothing
has been done These difficulties are
not so much on account Of the price of
mining rs the manner that each party
desire the work shall be carried on
The miners want to measure the coal
by tape line measurement in the bank,
to determine who, and how many
miners shall be employed and say that
none shall be discharged without the
consent of the Union; and in this they
are Supported by all the "Miners Tn
IONS in the United States.
The operators want to weigh the
coal, Claim the right to employ and
discharge who they please and refuse
to recognize the Miners Union.
Thus. the strife has gone on for
rearly three months, paralyzing the
business Of many of the large cities of
the State worse than did the panic of
last fail.
On the evening of the 10th of June
l was informed by some of the coal
operators that there were 400 negroes
in Columbus from the South on their
way to the mines and that they would
be at the mines in the morning; and
that they anticipated trouble, perhaps a
riot, and reQue: ting an interference of
the State authorities. To which I re-
piled l could only act on the order of
the Governor. The next morning re-
ceived an official dispatch directing am
munition to be sent to Athens for the
. use of the Sill Guards of Chilicothe,
and also one in the afternoon from Mel
sonvile directing me to order the Lyttle
Greys of Cincinnati to get ready to 60
to Nelsonville. The correspondence
was kept up during the night and the
next morning I determined to go to
Nelsonville and see what aid could be
given to the Sheriff of Athens county
and Hon. l. H. Putnam Private Secre-
tary of Gov Allen in restoring quiet
without the aid of any military force
Arriving here in the afternoon of the
18th, l found the town full of angry
miners who were congregated about the
depot, stores and street corners, to tue
number of at least 400, sober, quiet, but
bitter in their feelings against the ope,
rators and the negroes 1t could be
readily seen that the disturbance had
reached its zenith and was on the de-
cline. The presence of Putnam and
the Sheriff had no doubt saved the
place from difficulty and riot during the
day. After supper we proceeded to the
mines of Longstreth & Co., where the
negroes had been set to work. All
along the way we met crowds of miners,
women and quite number of the ne
groes who had become dissatisfied with
the place, or had been persuaded to
leave by the miners who had been en-
abled to talk with them during the day.
On reaching the vicinity of the miners
the first thing that caught my attention
was two breast works thrown up in
front of the mine and under the tram
way to the place of loading coal was
stacked 300 U. S. Rifles we'll loaded
while guards passed back and forth to
halt every man that approached Every
man we met seemed determined that the
question had now to be met and settled
as to whether the owners should con.
troll their mines or not; after we had
! spent an hour or more here we returned
to town to hear the speeches of the
- miners on the public square, in which
they bitterly denounced the negro move
, ment and pledged to each other never
; to give up the points for which they
had struck. They lauded the negroe:
who had left their employers, had som'
. of them make speeches, and urged OF
= them to induce all the others to leave
Saturday morning Putnam left and thu
forenoon was quiet with the exception
of the discussion what should be don,
with deserting negroes. 1t was fnall,
determined that they should be assisted
g to the Ohio river, and teams were col
+ lected for that purpose by the miners
+ and they were sent Off The effect o
e thus sending them off was to reliev
Nelsonville of their support, and ge
e away from the operators a class OF ne
7, groes who would have been an injur
;e to them if they had stayed. In the al
r ternoon when they started with the ne
| groes there was considerable excite
d ment and it again looked as if ther
was going to be trouble, but reaso
At prevailed and quiet was soon restored
le l am now staying here over Sunda
r. because there is no train to take m
: away. l have fell in with "Tommy
il Davis, formerly Of Woodsfeld, who
IS living here and with whom l have sper
20 most of the day. Nelsonville, whic
but day or two ago was almost like
81 boiling caldron, is as quiet and peace
:. y able as airy village in Ohio. A
III lynch Law In Indian Territory
b ST. LOUIS, June 16.-The Repu5lica
~ has letter from Vinita, Indian Terr
y tory, which says that vigilance CON
a mttee has lately been formed in th,