It should go without saying that coal mining, even today, is a hazardous occupation. Needless to say, it was even more so in the early days when miners dealt with mules, hazardous gas, open flame lamps and sticks of dynamite on a daily basis. Because so many early mining deaths went unreported except for footnotes in the local papers, many of the stories of miners dying doing their job remain a blank in genealogical family trees. The following list is a compilation of accidents occurring in Williamson County between 1897 and 1904 inclusive taken from the 1905 Souvenir History of the county. Continue reading →