FIRST NAME


LAST NAME


LOCALITY


Cherry, IL Coal Mine Disaster, Nov 1909

Cherry IL Mine Day After Disaster.JPG Cherry IL Caskets Loaded On Train.JPG Cherry IL Mine Disaster Ruins of Fan House 1909.jpg Cherry IL  The Morgue where Bodies Lay.JPG Cherry IL The morgue scene.jpg Cherry IL Historical Marker Of Mine Disaster.jpg Cherry IL Remains of the Fan House today.jpg Cherry IL Remains of the Tipple at the entrance.jpg

HUNDREDS OF COAL MINERS MEET DEATH.

MILWAUKEE RAILROAD COMPANY MINE AT CHERRY, ILLINOIS, VISITED BY EXPLOSION AND FIRE, CAUSING DISASTER.

RESCUERS BURN IN CAGE.

DISTRACTED WOMEN AND CHILDREN RELATIVES OF VICTIMS WEAP AND PRAY ABOUT MOUTH OF SHAFT.

By United Press.
Spring Valley, Ill., Nov. 13. -- The most appalling mining disaster in the history of Illinois and one of the most disastrous in the history of the United States took place this afternoon when the lives of several hundred miners were snuffed out in a fire in a second vein of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad coal mine at Cherry, seventy-seven miles from here.
With the fire still raging at midnight, 500 feet in the depths of the mine, the shafts of which have been sealed, it was impossible to estimate accurately the number of men who perished.
Whether 200 or 473 men perished was not certain at midnight. At that hour the officials of the railroad company issued a statement that between 200 and 250 miners were still in the mine -- presumably dead, while persons who have been constantly at the mouth of the shaft since the disaster, declare the time keepers records indicate that 473 have perished.
The railroad officials insist that of the 485 men who went into the shaft this morning about 200 have been taken out alive. Late reports from Cherry, however, deny this assertaion and say that of the men who went into the mine in the morning only twenty-four are now on the surface and living.
The heroes of the disaster are twelve rescuers headed by IKE LEWIS, a Cherry storekeeper and mine foremen BUNDY and DONNELLY. These men went into the shaft in an effort to aid the imprisoned men and a few moments after were taken out dead. Their bodies were burned almost beyond the semblance of human beings and were terribly contorted by the intense heat.
President A. J. EARLING and General Manager BUSH of the Milwaukee railroad accompanied by W. W. TAYLOR, general manager of the mine, arrived here tonight and took personal charge of the situation.

Many Were Saved.
The first that was known of it was when there was a deafening explosion and a column of fire and smoke shot out of the mine shaft. The cage was instantly lowered and a moment later it was pulled up packed full of miners who staggered to the ground as it reached the surface and gasped out the story of the scenes of horror they had witnessed below.
Before they could tell their story the cage was sent down again and again, each time bringing up its burden of blackened and weakened men. Finally there was no signal from below to draw up the cage and when it came up it was empty.
Then the survivors told the story while physicians attended them. They said all the men were at work at 3 o'clock when there was a terrific report and almost in an instant the whole mine was filled with flames. They seemed to go everywhere, and it was impossible to escape from their horrible heat, they said. There was a wild dash for the shaft and when the cage came down the living men fought each other to clamber in. All of them were blackened and burned with coal dust and the bodies of some of them were terribly burned.

Rescuers Burned Alive.
Volunteers were called for to attempt to rescue the entombed men.
ART LEWIS, of Ladd, Ill., was the first to respond and within a minute eleven other men stood at his side. They were JAMES Y. EARLEY, Spring Valley; ALEXANDER STRANGBERG, Spring Valley; JAMES JAMIESON, Cherry, miner; HARRY STEWART, Cherry, miner; ROBERT CLARK, Cherry, miner, and DONNELLY, mine foreman.
They got into the cage and it was shot down into the mine. The men above waited for a few minutes -- long enought to hear from the party -- and when no signal was received the cage was drawn up again. The twelve rescuers were all there -- dead. Their faces were burned almost beyond recognition and the trunks were still smoking hot when the cage reached the surface.
Later tonight reports from Cherry declare hope of taking any of the imprisoned miners out alive have been abandoned and the mine has been sealed up. It is not believed possible any of the entombed men can have escaped for according to the survivors the flames reached to the innermost recesses.
The mine is the property of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad.

Is A Small Town.
The town of Cherry is small and has a population of about 3,000 nearly all of them Austrians, Italians and Lithuians employed in the mine.
When the news of the disaster spread there this afternoon there was a wild rush from the little cottages to the mouth of the mine, where wives, mothers and children of the victims waited for the news of men buried under the earth. Each time the cage came up with survivors the women and children rushed to the shaft and almost overwhelmed the occupants in their eagerness to identify them.
The superintendent of the mine organized the miners from other shafts to preserve order, but it was with difficulty that many of the frantic women whose husbands or sons did not come up with the other survivors were kept from hurling themselves down the shaft.
Finally when the cage came up the last time and it was realized that the time for saving the entombed men was past, the men, women and children standing about the shaft fell on their knees and prayed aloud in various tongues that heaven would visit its mercy on their doomed relatives and friends.

No Hope Left.
At 10 o'clock the statement was made positively at Cherry be persons in charge of keeping order at the mine that there was absolutely no hope for the 400 or more men buried under the earth. At that hour persons familiar with the topography of the mine declared that the flames undoubtedly had burned away the frame work in the mine and that many of the inner works had probably caved in on the imprisoned miners.
It is expected that the fire will not burn itself out for weeks and it is believed that when the depths can be penetrated nothing will be found but heaps of charred debris, with little or nothing that bears a semblance to human bodies.
The inhabitants of the little village are dazed tonight at the magnitude of the disaster.
In spite of the frantic demonstration at the mine immediately after the explosion, it is clear that they do not yet realize the full extent of the calamity that has come into their lives. Little knots of men are scattered throughout the village discussing the tragedy in awed whispers, all probably expressing the belief that the entombed men will be rescued, but privately feeling that hope has long since passed.
Practically every house in the village has lost at least one member of the family in the disaster and the taking off of the breadwinner of the family has brought many of them to actual want. To meet this emergency General Manager W. W. TAYLOR and Supt. JAMES STEELE, of the mine sent messages to the Milwaukee railroad officials tonight asking for relief in the shape of provisions and clothing. The railroad sent a half dozen special trains bearing the necessities and also nurses and physicians to the scene.
Everything for an emergency hospital has been taken to the town, but the general belief is that the place will need coffins more than it will need bandages.
Great difficulty was encountered by newspaper men in getting news of the disaster to the outside world. The explosion which wrecked the mine also partially wrecked the telephone and telegraph wires into Cherry and it was hours before any news reached Spring Valley except by courier.

Company Makes Statement.
Chicago, Nov. 13. -- A statement declaring that of the 485 men who went into the Cherry coal mine this morning, 200 have been taken out alive, was issued tonight by the officials of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway company.
The statement denies that the fire started as the result of an explosion of mine dust, delcaring that the accidental firing of a load of hay on the second level by a careless miner probably started it.
The Cherry mine is one of the newest and best equipped coal mines in the country, the statement asserts, the shaft having been sunk only four years. There are two levels, one 300 feet below the surface and one 550 feet below the surface. Most of the miners in the mine when the fire started were at work in the lower level.
The mine was well equipped with modern machinery, says the statement, and was well lighted throughout with electricity. In order to eliminate the chance of fire. The statement adds that the exhaust fan installed to draw foul air from the mine broke shortly after the fire started, rendering it necessary to close all of the shafts, excepting the hoisting shaft, in order to check the spread of the flames.

Pour Water In Mine.
Late tonight special trains carrying fire apparatus were sent to Cherry and the volunteer firemen began to pour water into the mine in the hope of checking the flames. The work was greatly hampered, however, by the fact that there is little water at Cherry and the engines had to carry it three miles from Ladd in tank cars. Several hundred men, some of them armed with buckets, were set to work dumping the water into the shaft.
President EARLING, of the railroad, and General Manager BUSH expressed the belief that some of the entombed men were still alive and that when the fire has been checked and the smoke cleared from the shafts, rescuers may be sent down safely and efforts made to communicate with any of the miners still surviving.
These hopes are not shared by the practical miners of Cherry who declare that even if the imprisoned men could get air, they could never survive the intense heat of the fire.
It was stated at Cherry tonight that the officials of the local miners union were formulating a demand for a complete investigation of the disaster and the circumstances surrounding it. Miners were heard to declare that if the exhaust fan had not broken at a critical moment, some of the men now entombed might have been taken out alive.

Survivor's Story.
A vivid story of the disaster was told tonight by JOHN HANEY, one of the twenty-four men who were taken out alive.
HANEY and JAMES FLOOD, the latter of whom went back into the mine with the rescue party and perished, are believed to have been the last miners taken out of the mine alive.
HANEY declared he and FLOOD were the first to discover the fire. He said he was about to leave the mine about 2 p.m., and was walking through the main entry way from the escape shaft to the hoisting shaft when he discovered the flames. He summoned FLOOD who was nearby and together they fought for an hour with the fire in an effort to extinguish it.
"I don't know how the fire started," said HANEY. "I only know that I saw the flames and I realized that it was absolutely necessary that I put them out or several hundred miners would be roasted to death."
"The heat was horrible and both FLOOD and I were blackened but we stayed with the fire for an hour and did out best to put it out. Finally, though, the fire got away from us and when it crept up into the overhead timbering of the mine, I could see it was all off."
"FLOOD and I then ran from the place as fast as we could to the escaping shaft. We found that others were there before us and were being hoisted up. We waited in the intense heat for what seemed a life time to me, but finally the cage came down and we were lifted to the surface. I guess wer were the last men taken out alive, for when the cage went down the next time it came up empty."
"I don't know what became of the other poor devils down in the lowest level, but I don't see how any of them can ever be taken out alive. When the cage bringing us up was coming up, it was easy to see that it would not take very long before the fire would weaken the supports and the whole interior of the mine would cave in."

The Des Moines News Iowa 1909-11-14

-------------------------------------------------------------

NINETY-ONE RESCUED ALIVE IN CHERRY MINE.

BLACK PIT GIVES UP ITS VICTIMS.

TWENTY-ONE BROUGHT TO SURFACE AND RESTORED TO FAMILIES -- SEVENTY MORE AWAIT AT BOTTOM OF PIT FOR RESCUE PARTY WHICH IS BLASTING ITS WAY TOWARD THEM.

Cherry, Ill., Nov. 20 -- The St. Paul Coal Mine has given up its living.
At midnight there had come alive out of the pit twenty-one men who for a week had been given up for dead. At that hour upwards of 70 men were known to be alive in the mine but had not yet been brought to the surface, while it was reported that fifty others might have achieved the seemingly impossible and escaped death.
The return of the men to life one week after their burial alive came so suddenly that the whole community was stunned. The men came to tell talles of hardship and privation and suffering as only the pen of a Poe could adequately describe. They told of fighting first against death in the shape of fire and later against the slow death of suffocation.
For seven days they subsisted on what little food was in their buckets and the bark of the mine timbers and drank the oil from their lamps and the seepage in the gutters of the mines. For seven days they watched and waited and prayed for rescue and tuned their ears to sounds from the outside world that would tell them that saviors were near at hand.
Then when all were sinking to the apathy of despair and the songs they had sung and the stories they had told no longer served to keep their minds off their approaching doom, rescue came and willing hands dragged them from their prison 300 feet under the earth's surface and brought them up to home and friends.
History has seldom recorded so providential a rescue and rarely has the world witnessed such scenes as attended the return of the entombed men to life.
The first news that men were still living in the mine reached the surface at 2 p.m. For days the interior of the mine had been a fiery furnace and all hope that men might still be living in the subterranean tunnels had been abandoned. Volunteers had gone down to being up the dead and could scarcely believe their own senses when they found men living.
The news spread like wildfire throughout the stricken village and before the first of the entombed men had stepped out of the cage on the surface a dense throng surrounded the mouth of the pit. Men, women and children deserted their homes and ran some of them half clad to the mine's mouth. The two companies of state troops that had been sent by Gov. Benson to prevent disorder when dead bodies were brought up, found no disorder until the living appeared.
Women whose husbands, brothers or sweethearts had been buried since the fire broke out became hysterical in their excitement and fought with the soldiers to reach the mouth of the shaft.
Many swooned. These whom the soldiers held back as gently as they could, returned again to the attack and seizing the guns of the soldiers endeavored to wrench them from their hands. Many got through the lines and would have hurled themselves head foremost into the pit had they not been restrained.
Everywhere the village teemed with excitement.
When the first rescued men, JOSEPH and GIACOMA PIGATTI, appeared on the surface with their rescuers they were taken to sleeping cars in the village where nurses and physicians were in attendance to care for the men. Their progress from the mine shaft to the cars was blocked every foot of the way by hysterical men and screaming women so that the rescuers had literally to fight their way along.
Men and women fell on their knees on the ground and prayed aloud their thanksgiving for what they regarded as a direct manifestation of providence. Many is their frenzy threw themselves on the ground or clasped the foot of the rescuers and kissed them.
Women who recognized among the 21 men taken out their own kin would not be restrained but threw themselves on their necks and sobbed, refusing to tear themselves away when physicians attempted to point out that the rescued men must have food. Those women had stood for seven nights and days waiting for news of their loved ones and they would not be denied.
The first half hour after the living men appeared chaos reigned, and it was not until 2:30 p.m. that a semblance of order was restored. As fast as the survivors were brought to the surface they were hurried to the sleeping cars. The physicians carefully fed the men small quantities of soup aiming to restore their strength gradually.
A guard of troops was thrown about the cars and once inside the men were allowed to see none but the newspaper men and their relatives.
There the men began to unfold the stories of their experience in the underground tomb. Their storeis showed that the evidence given at the coroner's inquest that the fire had started from a torch projecting, from a wall in the mule stables on the second level was correct. They told of finding fire in the mule stables at 3 o'clock last Saturday afternoon and under the guidance of WM. CLELLAND, a Scotchman, at throwing up a barricade to keep the fire, smoke and gases away from them. The passage of time was not marked by them, they said and most of them thought they had been imprisoned but a single day.
Then came the rescue of the survivors. One man asked only to see his wife and children, he did not want food, he said, another begged for a glass of beer, while a third scorned food but remarked, "Lord, how I wish I had a cigarette."
Doctors declared that the minds of many of them had evidently been temporarily unbalanced by the horrors they have faced. Rescuers reported that when they dug through the barricade to the second level and the 21 men came scrambling and fighting each other to get through the passage, the rescued men laughed hysterically and made jokes about their long siege underground while waiting for the cage to take them up. First twenty-one men taken out alive:
GEORGE SEMICH, JOHN SEMICH, FRANK WHITE, JOSEPH PIGATTI, GLACOMA PIGATTI, WM. McCLELLAND, WALTER WAITE, FRANK WAITE, GEORGE H. EDDY, WM. HYNES, FRANCISCO ZINIRINI, QUARTAROLI ABOLANARA, THOS. RICHARDS, JOHN TIMKO, ANDREW TIMKO, FREDERIKO LORENZI, WILLIAM MORTMER, JOHN BROWN, BOMFILIO RUGERIO, JOSEPH CRESCINI, WILLIAM HEINZE.
Meanwhile another report flashed through the village.
"There are 150 more men alive down there," shouted a rescuer as he stepped from the cage after a trip below. Instantly all the earlier excitement was renewed and all the earlier scenes were re-enacted.

Priest Goes Down.
Rescuers were sent down into the mine at once but came up to get oxygen helmets, saying they could hear men calling to them, but could not stand the gases or the stench of the bodies of burned mules in the second level. With the rescuers on the return trip went Father Henry of Mendola, a Catholic priest. He had donned the clothes of a miner and went down to give absolution to all of those Catholics who might be dying.
The work of reaching these men was taken in charge by D. E. POWELL, superintendent of the Braceville mine and B. C. MAXWELL, chief engineer of the St. Paul Mine company. For six hours without relief of any sort MAXWELL stood in one spot and directed the efforts of the rescuers, despite the black damp which threatened all of the rescuers.
The rescuers found two parties of entombed men still living. All were on the second level in the west tunnel and near the spot where the twenty-one men had been taken out earlier. The rescuers were attracted by rappings on the walls on the tunnels and following them, they came upon a barricade. Their signals were answered immediately and they started to dig.
At a late hour tonight they were able to talk to the members of one party of sixty-seven men, who declared they were all in good physical condition. The rescuers proceed cautionsly as that portion of the mine reeked with black damp and it was feared that if the men were brought in contact with it suddenly they might die. It is realized that the living men are largely borne up by excitement and that they probably are not as strong as they think they are.
At midnight 120 rescuers were at work, endeavoring to take the men out and it was expected that they would be brought to the surface before morning. Other rescuers are digging to reach another party of eleven. Meanshile respirators have been provided and will be passed to the imprisoned men.
Late tonight 16 of the 21 men brought to the surface were taken in carriages to their homes. A nurse was sent to each one, to see that he did not eat anything but what the doctors prescribed. Inspector E. C. CRAWFORD of the state board of health, who is in charge of the medical corps, expressed the belief that some of the men might collapse tomorrow when the excitement had been wore off.
Despite their affected jauntiness when they were rescued, the faces of most of the survivors plainly tell the story of their sufferings. A week ago WM. CLELLAND'S hair was a dark brown; tonight it is a silver gray. He was almost too weak to walk until a childish voice called his name through the window of the sleeping car when he was strong enough to reach out and gather his two children into his arms. His six year old son WILLIE, and his eight year old daughter FRANCIS, perched themselves upon his knees and the first thing WILLIE said was, "Papa did you get your dinner?"
Many of the rescuers collapsed under the strain to which they have been subjected. D. E. POWELL was brought up unconscious tonight and is said to be in a critical condition.
BARNEY DOUGHERTY, another rescuer, after making two trips into the mine was sent up hurriedly and fell unconscious as he stepped out of the cage. At midnight he was reported dying and a priest was sent for.
On all sides tonight men are saying, "Any man who does not believe in God after this is simply insane."
"It was the greatest miracle of the age," declared WM. TAYLOR, state mine inspector, as the tears rolled down his cheeks. "This is the greatest moment of my life. No one could feel the enormity of the disaster more than I and that men are really alive down there is nothing but a direct answer to our prayers. Nobody can make me believe otherwise."

The Des Moines News Iowa 1909-11-21

THE VICTIMS:
ALFIO AMIDER -- FOLIANI AGRAMANTI -- JOSEPH ALEXIUS -- PETER ATALAKIS --G. ATALAKIS -- M. ADAKOSKY -- CHAS. ARMELANI -- PAUL ARMELANI -- JOSEPH BURKE -- MILCE BAUER -- OLIVER BRAIN -- CLEMENTO BURSTIC -- ANTONIO BOLLA -- MIKE BASTIA -- THOMAS BROWN -- PETER BOLLA -- FRANK BAWMAN -- LEWIS BAWMAN -- ANTONE BAROZZI -- EDWARD BRUNO -- PETER BREDENCI -- JOSEPH BUDZON -- JEROME BOUCHER -- GEO. BAKALAR -- THOMAS BAYLIFF -- CHAS. BERNADINI -- ADOLPH BOSVIEL -- CHAS. BUDZOM --TONZOTHE BERTOLIONI -- J. BENOSSIF -- AUGUST BUTILLA -- JOSEPH BORDESONA -- JOHN BETOT -- JOHN BROWN -- RICHARD BUCKELS -- JOHN BRUZIS -- JOHN BUNDY -- ANGELO COSTI -- PETER CIOCCI -- CARIVO CANOV -- CANICAL CIOCI -- LEWIS COSTI -- FRANK CAMILLI -- JOHN CASSERIO -- CHELSTO CASTOINELO -- JOHN CAGOSKEY -- JOSEPH CHEBUBAR -- ELIZIO CASOLLARI -- HENRY COULON -- HENRY COHARD -- MIKE CIPOLA -- ROBERT CLARK -- ELTI CARLO -- DIMINICK CASOLARI -- CHAS. CAVAGLINI -- JOHN COMPASSO -- JOHN DEBULKA -- ANDREW DOVIO -- JOHN DONALDSON -- GEORGE DOVIN -- FRED DEMESEY -- LEOPOLD DUMONT -- VICTOR DETOURNEY -- FRANCISCO DENALFI -- BENJAMIN DURAND -- JOHN DUNKO -- ANDREW DURDAN -- JNO. G. DAVIES -- MIESTRE ELARIO -- GEORGE ELKO -- PETER ELOSES -- CHAS. ERICKSON -- ERIC ERICKSON -- JOHN FARLO -- PETER FAYEN -- JOHN FORGACH -- DOMINICK FORMENTO -- OLE FREEBIRG -- JOHN FRANCISCO -- AUGUST FRANCISCO -- JOHN FLOOD -- JNO. GOVERNER -- ANDREW GREHASKI -- PETER GUGLEILM -- J. GARLETTI -- JNO. GUIDARINI -- ANGONE GIALCOLZZA -- JNO. GARABELDA -- JOSEPH GULICK -- JALINDY GWALTYERI -- JNO. GARLETTI -- FRANK GECKSE -- FRANK GRUMETH -- LEWIS GIBBS -- MIKE HALKO -- STEVE HADOVSKI -- SAMUEL HOWARD -- JNO. HUDAR -- WILLIAM HYNDS -- JNO. HERTZEL -- DAN HALOFCAK -- JOSEPH HARPKA -- AUGUST HAINANT -- ALFRED HOWARD -- FRANK JAMES -- JOE JANAVIZZA -- JAMES JAMISON -- THOMAS KLEMIAR -- JNO. KANZ -- JULIUS KUSSNER -- JNO. KLAESER -- RICHARD KLEMIAR -- JOHN KOMETZ -- ALFRED KRALL -- HENRY KRALL -- ALEX S. KROLL -- JOHN KENIG -- GEO. KLEMIAR -- JOSEPH KORVONIA -- FRANK KOVOCIVIO -- ANTONE KORVONIA -- PAUL KUTZ --DOMINICK KLIKLUNAS -- JAMES LOVE -- CHAS. LEYSHON -- ANDREW LUKATCHKO --JOHN LEPTACK -- JOHN LONZOTTI -- MORRISON LOVE -- JOHN LOVE -- DAVID LOVE -- URBAN LEYNAUD -- SELCOMO LONZETTI -- FRANK LALLIE -- MIKE LURNAS -- JOSEPH LEADACHE -- HASAN MUMETICH -- LEWIS MILLER or MALNER -- JOSEPH MILLER or MALNER -- EDWARD MILLER -- JOSEPH MOKOS -- JOSEPH MEICORA -- JAMES R. MOHAHAN -- EDWARD MILLS -- TONY MEKLES -- ARTHUR MERDIOR -- FRANK MARCHIONA -- ARCHIE MARCHIONA -- JNO. MACEOHA -- ARTHUR MILLS -- JNO. MITTLE -- FRANK MAYELEMIS -- ANTON MASENETTA -- JOE MALINOSKI -- ROBERT McCANDLESS -- JNO. McGILL, JR. -- JNO. McCRUDDEN -- PETER McCRUDDEN -- GEO. McMULLEN -- JNO. MAZENETTO -- JOSEPH MANI -- JNO. MAYERSKY -- ANDREW McLUCKIE -- ANDREW McFADDEN -- JNO. MAZAK -- WM. MATEAR -- ALEX NORBERG --AUGUST NORBERG -- DONATY OSSEK -- MARTIN OSSEK -- MATT ONDURKO -- CHAS. P. OLSON -- ALBERT PALMIORI -- PERYS PRUSITUS -- PETER PRUSITUS -- JNO. PAVOLOSKI -- JOSEPH PRESSENGER -- JOSEPH PRICH -- ALEX PEARSON -- DOMINICK PERONO -- CHAS PAPEA -- JOHN PEARSON -- PETER PERBACHER --ANDREW PACKO -- BEN PETE -- JOHN PAHAK -- ANTONA PAULINE -- MARTIN REPSEL --JOSEPH REPSEL -- JOSEPH RODONIS -- VICTOR ROLLAND -- FRANK RITTEL -- THOMAS RICHARDS -- CEGU RICCA -- JOSEPH RIVA --JOE RAVISO --GAILAMYO RUGGESIE -- ROBERT ROSSMAN -- FRANK RUYGIESI -- JOSEPH RIMKUS -- JOSEPH ROBEZA -- CANTINA SOPKO -- JAMES SPEIR -- HARRY STETTLER -- OLAF SANDEEN -- PAUL SEITZ -- ANTONE SHERMEL -- JOHN STARK -- FRANK STANCHEZ -- DOMINICK STEFENELLI --AUGUST SARGINTO -- ANDREW SARGINTO --ANDREW SIAMON -- J. SEMBOA (SEREBA) -- JOHN W. SMITH -- CHARLES SUBLICH -- JOHN SUBE -- MIKE SUBE -- JOHN SUFFEN -- JOSEPH SUKITUS -- PETER STEELE --JULIUS SARBELLE -- JAMES STEARNS -- EDWARD SEITZ -- WILLIAM SCOTLAND -- JNO. SHEMIA -- HARRY STEWART -- JNO. SZABRINSKI (known as JOHN SMITH) -- ANTONE STAM -- TONY STASZESKI --JNO. SESTAK -- JOSEPH TINKO, JR. -- JOSEPH TINKO, SR. -- STEVE TINKO -- ANDREW TINKO -- GEORGE TESZONE -- EUGENE TALIOLI -- EMILIA TONNELLI -- NOCENTI TURCHI -- FRANK TOSSETH -- JOSEPH TAMASHANSKI -- PASQUALE TAMARRI -- JOHN TONNER -- FILIPPE UGO -- GEO. WHITE -- ANTHONY WELKAS -- CHAS. WAITE -- WM. WYATT -- ANTONE YURCHECK -- FRANK YACOBER -- PETER YANNIS -- FRANK YAGOGINSKI -- JOSPEH YEARLEY -- THOS. ZLIEGLEY -- JOSEPH ZEKUIA -- GIATANO ZACHERRIA -- PAT ZEIKELL.
__________________

Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!

CHERRY MINE

READ YOUR ARTICLE ON THE CHERRY MINE....MY GRANDFATHER AND HIS SON ARE STILL IN THE MINE THEIR BODIES WERE NEVER BROUGHT TO THR SURFACE......THEIR LAST NAME WOULD HAVE BEEN NANNI BUT I SEE NO RECORD OF THEIR NAMES....THE NAMES CATTANI AND COMISKEY ARE ALSO NOT MENTIONED .....IS THERE ANOTHER LIST SOMEWHERE WITH MORE NAMES ON IT....MY GRANDMOTHER ARCHIDAMIA NANNI RAN A BOARDING HOUSE WITH HER DAUGHTER FOR THE MINERS TO HAVE A PLACE TO SLEEP AND A MEAL AND THEY ALSO PACKED THEM LUNCH.......THANK YOU FOR YOU INTREST IN THE MATTER .......KATHY SURVIS

"The Story of Cherry" by the

"The Story of Cherry" by the American Red Cross published in 1911 indeed mentions your grandfather Joseph Nanni as one of the casualties. He is listed as Italian, 36 years of age, married to Archidamia, and leaving a 4 year old child. No mention of Cattani or Comiskey.

Cherry Mine Disaster

Kathy,
I responded to you once but I am not certain that it went through. Anyway, your revelation here about your grandfather Nanni has created quite a stir on another board which I post on and posed a question regarding your grandfather.

In a nutshell, the published book "Trapped" by Karen Tintori has a victim list similar to the one above that does not list your grandfather. This list is from the U.S. Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health Academy. However, there is another publication titled "The Story Of Cherry" published January 1, 1911, by the American Red Cross that shows a Joseph Nanni, age 36, Italian, maried to Archidamia with a 4 year old child, as a victim. This sounds like your grandfather from the description you gave. This publication shows receipts and disbursements by the Cherry Relief Commission, Cherry Relief Committee, and the American Red Cross. Could this be your grandfather?

As I mentioned, I have posed questions on another board about my wife's grandfather and the existance of different victim lists not in agreement with one another as to names and to total numbers. The generally accepted total number of victims is 259. The American Red Cross publication lists 256 victims of which your grandfather is one but the 259 does not include your grandfather. Obviously something is not understood by me, a rank amateur trying to understand this discrepancy. On this other board that I post on, some experts on the Cherry Mine disaster, including Karen Tintori, have taken interest in this dilemma and are trying to understand the discrepancy.

At the 100th anniversary of the disaster in Cherry, a large granite memorial is going to be unveiled immediately South of the library. The names of the victims will be inscribed on this monument. Would you be willing to share your information about your grandfather with these "experts" in an attempt to understand why he is not included on some lists as a victim? I have no power to promise anything, but I would certainly hope that those in authority would see to it that your grandfather's name is included on that memorial as a victim.

Jerry Wiatrowski

Names of Survivors

My husband is a 30 yr. coal miner in Central Illinois. His great-grandfather was August Governor, who was working at Cherry Mine when the disaster occurred, and survived. My father is a life-long, now retired coal miner. He had occassion to speak with an Oberto Manetti, (unknown correct spelling), who died in 1990, I believe my dad said. Mr. Manetti told my father of his, and his brother's survival story. We are all looking for a list of survivors/or all who were working at the mine on the day of the disaster. Hope someone can help direct us to a source

Pat Zeikell AKA Anton Vesel

HI Jerry

I just read your article about the cherry mine diaster tombstone to be unveiled this year. I have been searching for any documents that show Pat Zeikell is an alias for Anton Vesel ( whom is my great grandfather, he was a victim of the Cherry Mine Disaster, his remains were brought up in the spring).
His wife, Franceska was expecting their 3rd child when this tragedy occurred.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Sue

Locating survivors

I, too, could not locate my great-grandfather in the list of those who perished in the mine. Recently, the Bureau County Genealogical Society located Probate Court documents that detail an interview with my great-grandmother who was applying for survivor benefits. In this document, she states that her husband went by the name John Stark at the mine, and not his given name, Jerry/Jermey Lindich. Indeed the list of those deceased includes John Stark. My mystery was solved.

survivor list

If there is such a list of survivors, I would like a copy of it. My greatgrandfather Alberto Palmiori died in the disaster. My grandfather Alphonso Lancioni was a miner in Cherry at that time. I don't know if he was in the mine and escaped, worked another shift or what the circumstances were.

name of survivors

Would like to know if there is a place to make a list of ones we know made it out of the mine. My grandfather was one of the ones who made it out with his boots on fire and got a very small settlement. There myust be a record of all that even got small settlements. Or if you know of someone maybe we can work togther to make a list that would be easy to add to. I don't have a homepage and when you put CHerry coal mine in there are only a few sites that come up and I don't know who would let us post a list.
can contact me direct at mefish3@comcast.net and put Cherry Coal mine since I do a lot of genealogy and other research

Search for more information on this disaster and other train wrecks, fires, accidents, etc. in historical newspapers in the Newspaper Archive. Over one billion newspaper articles online!
Search for your ancestors among the billions of names at ancestry.com Find death records, census images, immigration lists and genealogy other databases for your surnames. Use this Free trial to search for your ancestors.
Start Your Family Tree It's FREE and easy. Start with yourself, your parents, grandparents and you're on your way to building your family history! Get Started Now and build your family tree at ancestry.com. It's Free!


Family Old Photos
| Old-Yearbooks.com | Old Photos & Genealogy Blog

gendisasters.com is a genealogy site, compiling information on the historic disasters, events, and tragic accidents our ancestors endured, as well as, information about their life and death. Database and records searchable by surname. Compilation, design, artwork and concept covered by copyright. Copyright ©2006-2010, All rights reserved. Contact me. Privacy Policy.