USA > Alabama > Memorial record of Alabama. A concise account of the state's political, military, professional and industrial progress, together with the personal memoirs of many of its people. Volume I > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131
267
INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.
again, with seams of sulphur, at ninety-nine feet two inches, four feet, nine inches through; again, mixed with slate, at 141 feet; again, very good and hard, at 224 feet 4 inches, the vein one foot and a half through; again at 263 feet 10 inches, very good, four feet and five inches through; and again at 28 feet 6 inches, two feet six inches through. The drilling was continued to a depth of about 500 feet.
These were in the comparatively early days of coal mining in Alabama. In the last decade vast strides have been made in the development of the Warrior basin, and yet, great as is the present output, the army of miners have only been skirmishing along the edges of the immense coal depos- its, leaving the continent, so to speak, untouched and unexplored. Of the large territory embraced in the Warrior coal fields, mines have only been opened in the counties of Tuscaloosa, Jefferson and Walker. In 1890, there were at work in Tuscaloosa county the Standard Coal company, near Milldale, working the Milldale mines Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4; A. Durie, near the city of Tuscaloosa, working the Durie mine; and the Coaling Coal & Coke company at Coaling Station. In Jefferson county, at the , same time, the Hoene Consolidated Coal & Iron company worked the Brake and Jefferson mines at Warrior; the Alabama Connellsville Coal & Coke company worked the Connellsville mines, with an output of 200 tons per day, at Connellsville; the Sheffield and Birmingham Iron &. Railroad company worked the Elliot mines at Elliot; the Mabel Mining company worked the Mabel mines at Warrior; the Woodward Iron com- pany worked the Woodward mines (capacity 700 tons per day) at Collins; the Mary Lee Coal & Railway company worked the Mary Lee mines (capacity 800 tons per day) near Birmingham; the Milner Coal & Rail- way company worked the Black Creek mines at New Castle; the Tennes- see Coal, Iron & Railway company worked the Pratt mines (daily capacity 4,500 tons) near Birmingham; the Watts Coal & Iron company worked the Watts mines (capacity 600 tons daily) at Warrior; the Vulcan Coal & Coke company worked the Vulcan mines-now (1892) owned by the Eclipse Coal company-(daily capacity 300 tons) at Vulcan; the Warrior Coal & Coke company worked the Warrior drifts at Coaldale; the Sloss Iron & Steel company worked the Brookside mines at Brookside and the Coalburg mines (capacity 4,000 tons per day) at Coalburg; the Pearson Coal, Iron & Railroad company worked the Pearson mines at Warrior; the Glendale Coal company worked the Glendale mines in North Birming- ham; the Birmingham Furnace & Manufacturing company worked the Bradford mines near Palmer's Station; the Hecla Coal company worked the Hecla mines (daily output 200 tons) near Birmingham.
Walker county, whose mineral wealth was but recently appreciated and which is now the center of an active mining industry, made the following exhibit in 1890: The Sheffield Coal, Iron & Railroad company worked the Gamble mine near Gamble Station on the Georgia Pacific railroad; the Kansas City Coal & Coke company operated the Carbon Hill
268
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
mines Nos. 1 and 2, near Carbon Hill Station; Thomas Price worked the National mine at Horse Creek; C. E. Mallett has the Mary Ellen mine at the same place; the Lockhart Coal company worked the Lockhart mine, and the Corona Coal & Coke company, the Corona mine, both at Corona; the Virginia & Alabama Coal company worked the Patton mine, Patton Junction and the Coal Valley mine, Day's Gap-combined capacity nearly 2,000 tons per day; the Coal City company operated the coal mines No. 1, 2 and 3 (capacity 200 tons), and the Calumet No. 4, all near Jasper; the Deer Creek Coal company worked the Deer Creek mines at Patton; and the Donaldson Coal company worked the Donaldson mines at Day's Gap.
The above summary shows that in 1890 there were six mines in opera- tion in the county of Tuscaloosa, eighteen in the county of Jefferson, and fifteen in the county of Walker, making thirty-nine active mines in the Warrior basin. The total output in 1889 was 2,428,991 short tons, worth
at the mines nearly $3,000,000. Beside the output from the mines worked on a comparatively large scale, the following coal producers at small coal banks have been reported: J. F. Rogers at Morris, Jefferson county; Mrs. Chambers, Alabama Insane hospital; Alexander Pickens of Tuscaloosa, and W. W. Prude, Jr., of Cottondale, Tuscaloosa county; David T. Adams of Leonard, and W. L. Watson of Ego, Cherokee county; Parker Land & Coal company, and Marshall Smith of Cullman; Charles A. Clayton, S. Coin, T. Coin, S. D. Jacobs and Samuel Clay- ton, of Gadsden, Etowah county; William Phelps of Jasper, Walker county; and E. Hendricks of Hendricks; David Bales of Liberty; Alfred Burns of Bangor; John Blackwood of Cleveland; J. W. Lowry of Arka- delphia and Z. Cornelius of Blountsville, all of Blount county. Doubt- less there were many persons who picked up from the various outcrop- pings and used and sold coal who made no report of their operations in this regard
The future of operations in this rich and extensive coal field can hardly be considered problematical. The liberal appropriation made by the Fifty-second congress for removing obstructions in the Warrior river and completing the three great locks, designed to avoid the shoals of the Warrior near Tuscaloosa and open up six miles additional navigation above Tuscaloosa, must necessarily have a very beneficial influence in the further development of these remarkable coal measures. In the opinion of the engineer in charge, the locks will be completed within the next eighteen months. The immediate effect must be to stimulate the mining industry, particularly in the vicinity of the Warrior river. Coal abounds in the bed of the stream and along its banks, and the additional six miles of water carriage will offer great inducements for utilizing these almost continuous beds, from which coal can be mined and readily dumped upon barges for transportation to market. The beautiful "City of Oaks" will then begin to reap the fruits of her long and patient waiting, and the
269
INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.
hopes so long deferred will reach fruition in the multiplication of her industries and in the rapid and healthy increase of her population.
The Cahawba coal field has been more thoroughly explored, its mines have been more generally worked and its products are better known than those of either of the other coal measures in Alabama. It was first examined by Professor Toumey, afterward by Mr. T. H. Aldrich, Dr. Eugene A. Smith, and several others, and recently by Mr. Joseph . Squire, an accomplished mining engineer, whose elaborate and exhaust- ive report thereon-accompanied by a carefully prepared map of the Cahawba fields and adajcent regions, was published by the state in 1890. From the reports of these several reliable explorers, particularly the last mentioned, the information hereinafter given on this interesting subject is chiefly derived. The Cahawba coal field forms a part of the great belt or carboniferous measures which begins near the southern boundary line of the state of New York, extends southwestward through the intervening states into Alabama, and ends near the center of that. state. Its takes its name from the Cahawba river which, with its tribu- taries, affords the soil drainage of this field. This river descends from the northeast corner of the coal field to the south end like a main drain, the creeks and branches on both sides contributing their quota, so that, in the wet season, it become navigable for small steamboats from Centre- ville to the mouth of the stream. This town is in Bibb county, a few miles south of the coal field. The obstruction in the river below Centre- ville consists principally of gravel shoals, which might be removed with- out much difficulty and the river may be made navigable to Centreville, the county seat of Bibb county. Above that place to the edge of the coal field there are some shoals of rock, the removal of which would be costly. The United States government has given some attention to the improvement of this stream, surveys have been made, and it is probable that when other improvements, which are deemed of more immediate conseqeunce, are completed, this river will be made navigable into the heart of the coal measures and afford a cheap and convenient method of transportation. It is about 100 miles by the river from the edge of the coal field to the Alabama river, where navigation is free the year round.
The Cahawba coal field is sixty-eight miles long, has an average breadth of five and eight-tenths miles and a surface area of 394} square miles. Including seams of two feet and upward in thickness, and excluding all seams in the vertical coal measures of the boundary and interior faults (which are not now workable), Mr. Squire estimates that this coal field contains an aggregate of 3,626,000,000 of tons of 2,000 pounds each. The extreme depth of the lowest seams is given at 4,700 feet vertical. This coal field has been divided into eleven basins, besides the "overturned measures" at the south end of the field. The northeastern end is in St. Clair county, the southwestern end in Bibb, and the central portions are in Shelby and Jefferson counties, thus extending to and through four
270
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
counties. We have seen that it approaches the Coosa coal field in St. Clair and Shelby counties, and the Warrior coal field in Jefferson county. Its general direction is northeast and southwest. At the right of it lies the Cahawba and Possum valleys; to the left Roup's and Shade's valleys; and to the left of these is Jones' valley.
Among the pioneers in the development of the Cahawba coal field may .be named, par excellence, Truman H. Aldrich and Henry F. DeBarde leben, gentlemen well known throughout the state for the intelligence, zeal, liberality and public spirit, which they have brought to the explora- tion and utilization of the mineral wealth of Alabama. Next to them may be mentioned Messrs. Cornelius Cadle and William F. Aldrich, but, in the distribution of well deserved praise, as in the other industrial fields, the state geological survey, which had done a very important work in stamping the individual and company explorations, which had been previously made, with confirmaton and approval and in giving to the world a minute and authoritative treatise on the condition and char- acteristics of this rich and extensive coal field, must not be forgotten. Prior to 1861, the demand for coal was very light, scarcely exceeding 11,000 tons per annum, and for several years after the war the demand was very moderate. The first systematic attempt at underground mining in this coal field (and probably the first in the state) was made by private individuals in the Montevallo seam in 1856. The Alabama Coal Mining company (composed of John M. Moore of Talladega, Judge Cooper of Lowndes, Dr. Miller of Wilcox, and others) was subsequently organized to work this mine. Stimulated by the demand for coal by the confed- erate government, several new mines were opened near Helena, between Boothtown and Gurnee; at Dailey creek; at the Montevallo mines and also to the southwest of Dailey creek. After the war, for several years, little interest was taken or effort made to develop the mineral resources of the state. When the richness and abundance of its iron ores and the possibility of working them at a profit, began to be comprehended, the important question, whether or not these coals could be used in smelting iron, came up for consideration. To test the matter required the build- ing of coke furnaces which would necessitate a considerable outlay of capital, for what was then regarded, at best, as a doubtful experiment. Capital, ever timid, shrunk back at the outlay, and nothing was accom- plished until the year 1870, when Mr. Henry F. DeBardeleben-with the intrepidity and public spirit which charaterize him-determined to solve the industrial problem. He rebuilt the partially destroyed iron furnaces at Oxmoor, at a cost of $100,000, and then demonstrated the fact that Alabama coal would smelt Alabama iron ores. He afterward, at an expenditure approaching $300,000, opened up the Pratt mines and solved another important problem-the ability to deliver cheap coal and coke in Birmingham. These demonstrations convinced outside capitalists of
271
INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.
the considerable value of the mineral products of Alabama, and paved the way for the splendid development which the last decade has wrought.
The Cahawba coal field has a great "fault" along the south and south- east boundaries which miners call an "upthrow fault," but which Mr. Squire designated as the "great boundary fault." A similar "fault" extends down the middle of the field, in its southern half, which he names the "interior fault." He discovered at the southern boundary, west of Montevallo, two additional "faults" separated by a breadth of about a mile and a half and extending eight or nine miles. Between these "faults" are six workable seams of coal, which Mr. Squire says, have been completely overturned and left dipping at an angle of sixty degrees toward the southeast. He discovered two other "faults," and, beside, "undulations or waves in the measures." Outside of these and the vertical measures near the "faults," he says, the strata of the Cahawba field shows an almost uniform southeast dip. The displacement in the great boundary "fault," he estimates at 10,000 feet; in the interior "fault," at from 700 to 1,500 feet. The coal measures of the Cahawba coal field have, it is estimated, an aggregate thickness of 5,525 feet. Mr. Squires has classified these measures into four groups: 1st. The "Millstone Grit Group." 2d. The "Micaceous Group." 3d. The "Productive Group." 4th. The "Conglomerate Group." These groups are separated by well defined rocks which serve as good landmarks all over this coal field. The most prominent mountain elevations in this coal field are Shade's mout- ain, toward the northwest; House mountain, in the south end of Shelby county; Owen's mountain in the north; Big Oak mountain, the highest in sight of the Cahawba coal field; and the famous Red mountain, rising along the northwest side of the field, containing the thick stratified vein of red fossiliferous iron ore, which supplies most of the Birmingham furnaces with ore.
The coal measures of the Cahawba are now supplied with railroad facilities, as follows: In the north end is the Columbus & Western divi- sion of the Georgia Central railroad, which runs from Birmingham to Opelika and thence to Savannah. Near it is the Georgia Pacific, which runs from Birmingham to Anniston and thence to Atlanta. The South & North railroad-now a part of the Louisville & Nashville system- passes through the middle portion of the field. Connected with the main line is the Birmingham Mineral railroad, from Helena to Gurnee, belong- ing to the Louisville & Nashville system. To the southwest the Briar- field, Blocton & Birmingham railroad runs from near Montevallo to Gurnee and Blocton, and thence to Bessemer, where it connects with the Alabama & Great Southern road. Besides these trunk lines passing through the coal fields, several of the mining companies have roads or branches of their own. Thus the Cahawba Coal Mining company have a railroad connecting Woodstock with their various mines at Blocton. This road, including branches, covers a mileage of eighteen to twenty miles. The Briarfield
272
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
Coal & Iron company have a railroad two miles long, running from the Peter's mine to the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia railroad main line at Briarfield. The Montevallo Coal & Transportation company have a branch road connecting Aldrich on the Briarfield, Blocton & Birming- ham railroad, with their slope on the Montevallo seam. The Eureka company have a branch railroad, two and a half miles in length, running from their slope on the Helena seam to the main line of the Louisville & Nashville railroad at Helena. The DeBardeleben coal and iron companies have a branch railroad connecting their slope above Henry Ellen with the Columbus & Western railroad. Numerous as are these constructed railroads, Mr. Squire thinks they are only a small fraction of the number which will be required in the near future, in this coal field. A tenfold increase of the present railroad mileage, he thinks, will be necessary to bring the Cahawba field up to its full working capacity.
Having given a general view of this interesting coal field, we proceed to consider, somewhat in detail, the several basins which compose it. These basins are eleven in number and are named as follows: Henry Ellen, Acton, Helena, Cahawba, Eureka, Dry Creek, Gould, Lolley, Monte- vallo, Dailey Creek and Blocton. We will speak of them in the order named. The Henry Ellen basin occupies the northern end of the Cahawba coal field, is twenty-eight miles in length by an average width of four and a fourth miles, and has an area of 119 square miles. The outcrop- ping of the millstone grit, known as Rocky Ridge, outlines the northwest- ern boundary of the basin, as also the boundary of this part of the Cahawba coal field. The "great fault" in Possum valley forms its south- eastern boundary. There are six public and settlement roads crossing this basin, and at least nine-tenths of the measures of the entire Cahawba coal field are crossed by and partly exposed, along these roads. What is called the "Mammoth Seam" is found in the north end of this basin. It has an aggregate thickness of over eleven feet of coal. A test of a. section of this seam, made by Mr. Squire, near the Rock Springs church, showed eleven feet and four inches of coal to about six feet of all other strata. Southwest of this test a remarkable split is found in the Mam- moth seam, a very white sandstone intervening near Henry Ellen-vary- ing from three feet to thirty-five feet in thickness. This split continues in a southwest direction to the south end of the.Cahawba coal field. Among the other seams found in this basin the Helena seam is notable for the good quality of the coal, and the fact that here it is double, with four feet of sandstone intervening. The lower layer contains three feet, and the upper layer three feet nine inches of coal. The Henry Ellen company sunk their No. 3 slope to the upper layer of this seam. Mr. Squire considers the evenness and regularity in the strike and dip of the coal measures of this basin as extraordinary. There are three promi- nent ridges called Rocky ridge, Black Jack ridge and Grassy ridge. Another ridge, called Sandstone ridge, divides the waters of the Middle
278
INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.
Black creek from the waters of Near Black creek. These ridges form, Mr. Squire considers, the principal features in the northwest half of the Henry Ellen basin. The southwest half is drained by the Cahawba river and its tributaries. The DeBardeleben Coal & Iron company have three slopes sunk in the lower bench of the Mammoth seam and are now, with the most approved machinery, successfully mining coal there. The method of working the coal seams in this basin practiced hitherto is termed by miners "working the seam on the run." The basin contains seams responsive to the principal demands in the use of coal, viz. : of good quality for domestic use, for coking and iron manufacturing purposes and for a first-class steam coal.
The following analyses of coal taken from the upper and lower benches of the Mammoth seam were made by Mr. J. L. Beeson, of the university of Alabama, and will be of interest:
Lower bench of Mammoth seam (slope No. 1), at Henry Ellen.
Moisture.
1,531
Volatile matter
Fixed carbon.
33.785 59.196 ¿ Coke 64 634
Ash
5.488 S
Total.
100.000
Sulphur in coal
1.016
Sulphur left in coke
.371
Per cent. of sulphur in coke.
.574
Upper bench of Mammoth seam at Henry Ellen.
Moisture.
1.526
Volatile matter
33.779
Fixed carbon.
53.572 )
Coke 64.695.
Ash
11.123
Total
100.000
Sulphur in coal.
1.057
Sulphur in coke
.509
Per cent. of sulphur in coke. .787
Seams of this basin, we are told, vary in size, condition and surround- ings, but this is usual in other coal fields. It contains, according to Mr. Squire, an aggregate of good workable coal, of eight hundred and eighty- one millions of short tons. The most valuable portion is on the south- east side. The measures have a varying rate of dip, ranging from five to twenty-seven degrees, and a thickness of five thousand feet. The follow- ing analysis of coke from the coal of the Mammoth seam at the DeBard- eleben Coal & Iron company mines at Henry Ellen was made by Alfred F. Brainard, chemist, Birmingham :
Coke from a car load lot.
Moisture
0.300
Volatile.
2.260
Fixed carbon
84 987
Sulphur
0.723
Ash
10.630
Total
100.000
18
274
MEMORIAL RECORD OF ALABAMA.
An analysis of the ash from the above analysis showed the following properties :
Silica 5.000
Alumina 3 500
Oxide iron 1.921
Lime
0.004
Magnesia. .0.003
Sulphur in ash.
.0.0002
Total 10 4282
The Aston basins joins the Henry Ellen at its northeast boundary and the Helena and Cahawba basins at the southwest. It is drained by Patton's creek and its prongs on the west side, by Acton's Mill creek and Coal branch on the southeast side and by the river, of which all of the branches mentioned are tributaries. Four good wagon roads pass through this basin. Its most prominent ridge is Shade's mountain on the northeast side. Pine ridge nearly parallels Shade's mountain on the southeast side. The valley between the two ridges named is mostly gritty and-slatey sand stones. Red ridge, New Hope mountain and several smaller ridges are also found in the Acton basin. There has as yet been no regular mining for coal in this basin, probably for the reason that railroads have not penetrated it. Two or three test slopes have been sunk, and the result was deemed satisfactory. The Eureka company's seam shows good coal in quantities sufficient to work profitably. The "conglomerate" seam is larger and better here than in Helena. The Acton seam is large, but is considered impure. The Acton basin is eight and a half miles in length by nearly five miles in average width, and contains an area of forty-two square miles. The amount of good workable coal in it, including only seams two feet and upwards in thickness, has been estimated at 143,000,000 tons. The tons are short tons (two thousand pounds each) and the estimate represents the gross amount of coal in the ground without an allowance for waste in mining and loss in pillars or otherwise.
The Helena basin lies west and north of the town of Helena, on both sides of the South & North Alabama railroad. It is bounded on the northwest by the Interior fault and the Cahwaba basin; on the northeast end by the Acton basin; on the southeast side by the Great Boundary fault and Possum valley; and the southwest by the Eureka basin. It is three and a fourth miles long and has an average breadth of three-fourths of a mile. Mr. Squire says that he made a more thorough examination of this basin than of any other in this coal field, "using the Wye level, the Abney level, the barometer, transit and chain liberally; besides making test pits with the pick and shovel." He found three good wagon roads and a bridle path or trail passing through this basin; the South & North Alabama division of the Louisville & Nashville crosses it north- west of Helena; the Gurnee & Blocton branch of the Birmingham Mineral railroad runs through a portion of it, and the Eureka company's railroad to thier mines also runs through about three-fourths of a mile of this basin.
275
INDUSTRIAL INTERESTS.
Mr. Squire in his report on the Cahawba coal field, says that a portion of the Helena basin (in section 15 and 16) "is so distributed by cross faults, hitches and distortion of the measures, that it would be very difficult to make a profitable investment in mining in that area," but he thinks that two-thirds of the basin can be worked profitably. Almost a fourth of a mile northeast of the South & North Railroad the coal measures are dis- turbed by a "cross fault," but passing this and continuing along the out- crop of the seam-one may proceed for "nearly two miles on measures that have an unbroken regularity," but at the north end the outcrops curve in a shape resembling a fish hook; "this portion of the basin lies very regular and is well worth the attention of the capitalist and miner." Among the workable seams examined by Mr. Squire are the Whetrock, the Wadsworth. the Buck, the Blackshale, the Moyle (a double seam), the Little Pittsburg, the Quarry, the Smithshop, the Thompson or conglom- erate (averaging here from three to five feet in thickness), and the Helena seam. The average thickness of this seam in this basin is from four to five feet. The coal mined from this seam is highly valued. It is used by the Eureka company for their coke ovens near Helena and for their smelting furnaces (ten miles distant) at Oxmoor. The large lumps are sold for domestic use. The direction of the seams and rocks of this basin is about northeast and southwest; the direction of the dip is south- west. The basin is drained by the tributaries of the Cahawba river. The surface area of the Helena basin measures two and a half square miles and contains, not allowing for waste in mine pillars or loss in mining (it is estimated). 45,000,000 tons.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.