Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster

4. The Company Men

4 THE COMPANY MEN “Clarence was always in control.” —James O. Watson, II, referring to his uncle, Clarence W. Watson. The Monongah Coal & Coke Company: Johnson Newlon Camden ON June 11, 1887, U.S. Senator Johnson Newlon Camden entered into an agreement with Aretas Brooks Fleming and Joseph H. Sands, the head cashier of the First National Bank of Fairmont, to form a syndicate for the purpose of “purchasing and controlling as large an amount of the coal territory of the upper Monongahela coal basin as could be got together and where might seem desirable.”1 A week later, on June 18, a meeting was held at the McClure House in Wheeling. Here, in addition to Sands and Fleming, Camden met with William Hood to finalize the original scheme. The group entered into an agreement , known as the McClure House Agreement, to obtain contracts and options for the purchase of all available coal lands in the upper Monongahela 28 chapter four Coal basin. The region stretched from the West Virginia-Pennsylvania line above Morgantown, south to Clarksburg—some 33 miles along both sides of the Monongahela and West Fork rivers. Sands, Hood, and Fleming already owned some coal properties in this area and, in accordance with the McLure House Agreement, would act as purchasing agents for the remainder. Camden, for his part, would form and finance a syndicate for the purchases of all these coal lands. In return for Sands, Hood, and Fleming turning over their current property to the syndicate and agreeing to act as purchasing agents, they were to be paid by Camden the sum of $50,000 in cash, with a $50,000 bonus upon meeting certain conditions, and granted membership and ownership in the syndicate.2 After the Wheeling meeting, Camden formed two companies, the Monongahela River Railroad Company and the Upper Monongahela Coal & Coke Company. The railroad company was established to construct a spur line from the B&O line terminus in Fairmont to Clarksburg where it would connect with the Parkersburg Branch of the B&O line, thus opening up the north central West Virginia coal basin. On January 24, 1889, Camden, as president of the Monongahela River Railroad Company, and Charles F. Mays, president of the B&O Railroad Company, entered into an agreement to prorate fees and establish rates for transporting Monongah coal and coke. This agreement also provided for the B&O to guarantee the financing of the spur line. The second company, the Upper Monongahela Coal and Coke Company , was not established until two years after the initial McLure House meeting . In May of 1889, Camden established the Upper Monongahela Coal & Coke Company with initial capitalization of 12 shares of $50,000 each. In choosing business partners, Camden followed the common practice of the day, relying upon friends and the existing partners; he also chose persons who would be helpful in and have an interest in seeing the business succeed. the company men 29 The members included U. S. Senator Anthem P. Gorman and Governor Elihu E. Jackson of Maryland, both of whom were invested in and part of the B&O directorship; E. W. Clark of the financial firm of E. W. Clark and Company , Philadelphia; James Sloan, Jr., of the Farmers and Merchants National Bank of Baltimore; Samuel Sperrow of Drexel Morgan and Company of New York; Charles W. Harkens of the Standard Oil Company of Cleveland, Ohio, representing the Rockefeller interest; former U. S. Senator James G. Fair of Nevada; Judge A. B. Fleming of Fairmont; Joseph H. Sands, first cashier of the First National Bank of Fairmont; and J. N. Camden, Jr., who—with his father—had held back some additional shares. With this stock, they then brought in Charles F. Mayer, president, and C. K. Lord, third vice president of the B&O Railroad; Camden’s son-in-law, Baldwin D. Spilman; and Camden’s brothers-in-law G. W. Thompson and D. S. Thompson. Camden also brought in William P. Thompson to the company, who was another brother-in-law and a former colonel in the Confederate calvary as well as the Secretary of Standard Oil of Ohio.3 In 1890, the company was reorganized and the name changed to the Monongah Coal & Coke Company, with capital stock increasing to $2 million.4 Some $600,000 was raised, about half of which was committed to purchase the mineral rights. The intention was to purchase 15,000 acres at an average price of no more than $25.50 per acre...