Coal Mining in West Virginia
My grandfather, Glenn Calhoun, born Feb. 21, 1931, grew up in a small coal mining town in Burnwell, West Virginia, after growing up in Grayson, Kentucky for a few years. Glenn grew up around all his family where they lived really close to each other and did everything together every day, including farming. His family concentrated on farming and coal mining the most, being all they could afford to do to make it in life. My grandpa was given his own pony when he was little, named Prince. He was only a mix, but he was my grandpa’s favorite thing he ever owned. He grew up with Prince until my grandpa was around sixteen years old or so, when Prince passed away. He was devastated, but knew that he had to start working for his family on the farm and in the coal mines when he was of age.
He continued working on the farm until he turned eighteen years old and was hired to work in the coal mines. He said it was a lot of hard work with very little benefits. He was only paid with script for the company store where everything was priced higher than it would have been outside of the coal town. Back then, the coal company owned everything from the land to the way the people were with their everyday lives.
Glenn’s most memorable time from working in the coal mines was the day his father got killed. It was a normal day and he was in one mine, and his father in a different. Everything was going just as it normally would when everybody who was working was freaking out and kept saying something about another of the mines caving in- the same one his dad was in. The news spread that him and a couple other of the mines were dead upon finding the incident. It was the worst day he ever had working there, and he never wanted to experience it again.
Glenn continued working in the mines for many more years after that day, even though he never wanted to work there again. He finally retired from the coal mines years after, where he moved to Ripley with his wife and two children- my father, Ed and my aunt, Bonnie. They have lived there every day since then, even through the passing of his wife, due to cancer. Glenn still lives there today and works for the city, but he still goes every weekend and goes and sees the mines and the place where his father was killed.
Ashley Calhoun
Ripley High School
My grandfather, Glenn Calhoun, born Feb. 21, 1931, grew up in a small coal mining town in Burnwell, West Virginia, after growing up in Grayson, Kentucky for a few years. Glenn grew up around all his family where they lived really close to each other and did everything together every day, including farming. His family concentrated on farming and coal mining the most, being all they could afford to do to make it in life. My grandpa was given his own pony when he was little, named Prince. He was only a mix, but he was my grandpa’s favorite thing he ever owned. He grew up with Prince until my grandpa was around sixteen years old or so, when Prince passed away. He was devastated, but knew that he had to start working for his family on the farm and in the coal mines when he was of age.
He continued working on the farm until he turned eighteen years old and was hired to work in the coal mines. He said it was a lot of hard work with very little benefits. He was only paid with script for the company store where everything was priced higher than it would have been outside of the coal town. Back then, the coal company owned everything from the land to the way the people were with their everyday lives.
Glenn’s most memorable time from working in the coal mines was the day his father got killed. It was a normal day and he was in one mine, and his father in a different. Everything was going just as it normally would when everybody who was working was freaking out and kept saying something about another of the mines caving in- the same one his dad was in. The news spread that him and a couple other of the mines were dead upon finding the incident. It was the worst day he ever had working there, and he never wanted to experience it again.
Glenn continued working in the mines for many more years after that day, even though he never wanted to work there again. He finally retired from the coal mines years after, where he moved to Ripley with his wife and two children- my father, Ed and my aunt, Bonnie. They have lived there every day since then, even through the passing of his wife, due to cancer. Glenn still lives there today and works for the city, but he still goes every weekend and goes and sees the mines and the place where his father was killed.
Ashley Calhoun
Ripley High School
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