Article Discussion

I’m curious as to where the information came from on how much coal was hand-mined in a day. The reason I ask is that my father had told me that his father had hand mined 60 and 56 tons on consecutive days in Century, West Virginia, probably around 1920. He was Russian, not Italian, though.

We contacted the author, Fred Barkey, and he said the Pelligrino reference came from the Jim Comstock Encyclopedia collection that was published (I believe) in 1976, and that it referenced a Marion County newspaper as its source. You’d need to go to visit State Archives and consult the index to the Comstock encyclopedias to find the exact reference. Dr. Barkey also said that the Dominic Fish information came from an oral history interview that he did with Mr. Fish.

Dr. Barkey is also interested in knowing if you have any other documentation (other than what you’ve heard) about the record your father set.

Thanks for your comment, and thanks for visiting e-WV.