In the Kingdom of Coal: An American Family and the Rock that Changed the World (review)

Dan Rottenberg has a penchant for writing about individuals who almost became famous. His biography of Anthony J. Drexel rescued the obscure story of a major Wall Street financier whose career was overshadowed by his close associate, J. P. Morgan. Another recent book examines the Jewish merchants of "Middletown" (Muncie, Indiana), made famous by the sociological study that focused on the Protestant culture of middle-class factory workers. In the Kingdom of Coal similarly skirts the familiar heroes and villains of heavy industry to bring us an account of the little-known dynasty of the Leisenring family, owners at various times between 1830 and 1990 of some of the biggest coal-mining operations in the United States.

The Leisenrings certainly bear recognition as major players in the nation's industrialization. The patriarch, John Leisenring Sr., was a pioneer entrepreneur in the anthracite coal fields at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, whose rich deposits his son, "Judge" John Leisenring Jr., turned into the first engine of the family's exceptional wealth. A son in each of four succeeding generations proved both open to technological innovation and geographical expansion as the industry changed and deeply wedded to the industry and family obligations. Ned Leisenring guided the family's ventures in mining and coking coal in the Connellsville region. His son Ted presided over the next phase of corporate expansion into southwestern Virginia, the second region of exceptionally good coking coal to fuel the U.S. iron industry after Connellsville. By the time the last Edward Leisenring took charge during the rise of environmental consciousness and the OPEC oil embargo, only open-pit mining in Montana seemed to offer any hope of reviving the family's failing but stubbornly undiversified coal business.

The family saga is told primarily as the story of the lineal male descendents who headed a succession of coal companies. The early Leisenrings did not capture the popular imagination as did Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, or John L. Lewis, each of whom plays a supporting role in this corporate biography. We have not heard of the Leisenrings because they were not ruthless or cunning, nor did they make powerful speeches or lock out their workers, nor were they the first to exploit new coalfields or push new technologies. They came late to Connellsville, for example. Then, despite years of competing against Frick, Ned Leisenring persuaded Frick to purchase a substantial share of the company and invited his agent to inspect the coke operations that Frick soon eagerly bought up, licking his chops at one more conquest.

During the dreadful Appalachian coal wars of the early twentieth century, the Leisenrings tried to treat their workers a little better than did other coal companies, most notably in the model company town of Derby, Virginia. Their mines were unionized late and saw less violence than most. While their moderation was part of their long-term success and won them the loyalty of generations of workers, they do not come across as very interesting individuals. Rottenberg writes well and does inject drama into the story when given the opportunity. He is best when setting particular shifts in the Leisenrings' circumstances in the context of broad technological changes, business cycles, and the rise and fall of unions. He also writes sympathetically about workers, though they receive far less than the equal billing that the jacket copy and introduction seem to promise.

The lack of citations at key junctures may irritate scholars who otherwise will appreciate the book's ambitious scope, encompassing the whole sweep of coal-mining history in America, from the birth of anthracite mining to the renewed interest in the country's vast coal reserves at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In the end, Rottenberg indicates that he is aware of the limitations of his subject and cannot resist including the story of the one descendant his audience...