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Fatal Mine Accidents at Short Mountain Colliery, 1878-1903
Posted By Norman Gasbarro on April 29, 2016
Some time after 1903, the Lykens Standard responded to a request to print a list of all mine-related fatalities at the Short Mountain Colliery, Lykens, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Many of the men named in the fatalities list were Civil War veterans or were the sons of Civil War veterans. The list is presented below for researchers who wish to locate obituaries, news articles, and other information about the men and their families.
Fatal Mine Accidents Since 2 January 1878
Below will be found a list of fatal accidents at Short Mountain Colliery from 2 January 1878 to 25 November 1903. We have often been asked when certain accidents occurred, but having no record to refer to, were unable to give the desired information. By mere accident we came across the list below, compiled by an employee of Short Mountain Colliery, and we would recommend that our local readers cut it out and preserve it for future reference….
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2 January 1878 – Peter Sholley
8 February 1878 – William Messner
12 May 1878 – John Wert
15 June 1878 – Charles Baker
21 November 1878 – Philip Hoffman
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28 March 1879 – John Uhland‘s boy
5 May 1879 – P. Martin
7 May 1879 – William Ely
10 July 1879 – Charles Zerby
23 July 1879 – Thomas Conley
15 September 1879 – Samuel Romberger
2 October 1879 – William Weeklam
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16 March 1880 – Michael Sheboski
3 May 1890 – Simon Kailey, George West, Michael Douglas – Explosion of gas.
5 May 1890 – Robert Williams
10 May 1890 – Thomas Evans
14 September 1890 – John Higgins
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20 October 1881 – Thomas Lord
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3 January 1882 – Peter Eby
2 September 1882 – Robert Snyder
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28 May 1883 – George Shively
13 September 1883 – Thomas Cook
7 November 1883 – Cassimir Hentz
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12 February 1894 – Lowry Shamper
8 April 1884 – Jacob Hoffman
16 September 1884 – Elmar Kocher – Explosion of boilers, top L. V. slope.
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28 May 1885 – Peter Starkowski
13 July 1885 – George Machamer
28 July 1885 – Joseph Dunlap – Caught by cars at Short Mountain scales.
15 October 1885 – Newton Woodside – Fall of rock in No. 1 drift.
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23 August 1886 – Daniel Woland – Explosion of gas; 12 other miners besides Woland were burnt at the same time.
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23 June 1887 – John Cook
13 August 1887 – William Taylor
16 September 1887 – George Kaudridge
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2 May 1888 – William Zarker – Caught by sidehook top of Lookout plane, outside.
14 May 1888 – John C. Zimmerman – Caught by cars on plane in No. 3, west.
12 July 1888 – Harvey Umholtz
12 September 1888 – George Orndorff
21 September 1888 – Elias Esterline – Fall of rock in No. 1 drift.
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22 January 1889 – William Keast
23 January 1889 – Frank Miller
11 February 1889 – Henry Erdman – Fell down S. M. slope.
7 August 1889 – William Davis
25 July 1889 – Claude Commo
15 November 1889 – Philip Hoffman – Fall of rock in No. 1 drift.
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11 July 1890 – John Halick
18 September 1890 – James Rettinger – Caught by locomotive in No. 3, west
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8 April 1891 – Barney Hentz
31 August 1891 – Elias Harman
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24 January 1892 – Albert Horley
30 March 1892 – Reuben Zimmerman – Fall of coal in No. 3 west.
27 October 1892 – Asa Blackway Jr. – Fell down No. 4 slope.
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25 March 1893 – Edward Mark
6 May 1893 – Julius Braener
14 August 1893 – Thomas Acaley – Fall of rock in No. 4 slope.
8 September 1893 – Thomas Wall – Fall of coal in No. 1 drift.
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6 February 1894 – Edward Zerby – Fall of rock in No. 3, west.
23 April 1894 – William O. Bateman – Fall of slate in No. 1 drift.
8 January 1894 – Horace Minnich – Fall of slate at bottom of No. 4 slope.
29 May 1894 – Frank Matter – Caught between cars and top rock in No. 3, west.
13 August 1895 – Joseph Enders – Caught by headblock top of No. 2 plane, No. 1 drift.
11 November 1896 – Charles Sandt – Caught between cars at breaker
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28 January 1897 – Samuel Samuels – Fall of coal in tunnel.
28 January 1897 – Aaron Umholtz – Fall of coal in tunnel.
11 June 1897 – William Lewis – Caught under cars at mouth of tunnel.
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12 April 1898 – Silas Parfet – Explosion of blast.
1 August 1898 – Simon Kniley Jr. – Fall of slate in No. 1 drift.
4 October 1898 – Josiah Werner – Fell down L. V. slope.
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2 July 1899 – Albert Williams – Caught under locomotive.
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16 January 1900 – Arthur Llewellyn – Fall of rock.
12 July 1900 – Theodore Hoffman – Caught between cars, outside.
11 September 1900 – James Higgins – Fall of slate in L. V. drift.
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10 January 1901 – William Longhurst – Caught between side hooks, top of tunnel plane, outside.
6 May 1901 – Uriah Minnich – Fall of slate in No. 3, west.
19 June 1901 – James O’Neil – Fall of rock in No. 4 slope.
26 August 1901 – George W. Fegley – Fell down manway in No. 1 drift, White’s Vein.
24 December 1901 – Andrew Schmich – Fall under trip of cars.
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3 October 1902 – Frank Behney – Caught by prop in No. 1 drift.
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3 August 1903 – Benjamin W. Roe – Fell down counter chute, W. V. counter, No. 1 drift.
29 August 1903 – William W. Hawk – Fall of slate No. 6 counter, S. M. slope.
25 November 1903 – Alain Hoke – Fall of coal in L. V. drift
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Special thanks to Roger Cramer for providing images of the news clipping containing this information.
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