Table Of Content

DiamonDs in the Rough Frontispiece. Warrior, Cahaba, Coosa, and Plateau coal fields. (Courtesy of the Geological Survey of Alabama.) DiamonDs in the Rough A History of Alabama’s Cahaba Coal Field James sanders Day THe UniverSiTy oF AlAbAmA PreSS Tuscaloosa Copyright © 2013 The University of Alabama Press Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487- 0380 All rights reserved manufactured in the United States of America Typeface: Garamond Cover photograph: South & north Alabama railroad bridge no. 72 spanning buck Creek. mining engineer Joseph Squire’s house is in the right foreground; town of Helena lies in the distance. Cover design: mary- Frances burt ∞ The paper on which this book is printed meets the minimum requirements of Ameri can national Standard for information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed library materials, AnSi Z39.48- 1984. library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Day, James Sanders, 1956- Diamonds in the rough : a history of Alabama’s Cahaba coal field / James Sanders Day. pages cm includes bibliographical references and index. iSbn 978-0-8173-1794-2 (trade cloth : alkaline paper) — iSbn 978-0-8173-8674-0 (ebook) (print) 1. Coal mines and mining—Alabama—Cahaba river region—History— 19th century. 2. Coal mines and mining—Alabama—Cahaba river region—History— 20th century. 3. Coalfields—Alabama—Cahaba river region—History. 4. C ompany towns—Alabama—Cahaba river region—History. 5. browne, William Phineas, 1804- 1869. 6. businessmen—Alabama—Cahaba river region—biography. 7. Cahaba river region (Ala.)—History, local. 8. Cahaba river region (Ala.)—Social conditions. 9. Cahaba river region (Ala.)—economic conditions. i. Title. Tn805.A6D28 2013 333.8’220976178—dc23 2012044797 For rené, Abby, and mary Afton, with much love ConTe nTS list of illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi introduction 1 1. Discovering and marketing Coal: 1815–1859 6 2. mining and mapping Coal: 1859–1883 24 3. Surveying and Developing the Field: 1883–1910 47 4. Coal Towns: 1881–1919 66 5. Convict leasing: 1872–1927 92 6. Welfare Capitalism: 1915–1933 109 7. Unionism: 1878–1935 132 8. Decline and Demise: 1929–1976 149 notes 161 Select bibliography 195 index 203 illUSTrATionS Figures Frontispiece. Warrior, Cahaba, Coosa, and Plateau Coal Fields 1. William Phineas browne and margaret Stevens browne 3 2. Joseph Squire 5 3. isaac Taylor Tichenor 38 4. South & north Alabama railroad bridge no. 72 39 5. Truman H. Aldrich 40 6. William F. Aldrich 41 7. James W. Sloss 42 8. Henry F. Debardeleben 42 9. Guy Gilliland and George brewer 45 10. William “Uncle billy” Gould 57 11. “rajah lodge” 70 12. Geologic map of the Cahaba synclinorium and adjacent areas 72 13. room and pillar method of extraction 75 14. roden Coal Company 78 15. marvel mines nos. 1 and 2 78 16. Coleanor mine 80 17. Advertisement for the montevallo Coal mining Company 84 18. Charles F. “Uncle Charlie” Debardeleben 85