Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster

14. Wheels of Justice

14 WHEELS OF JUSTICE West Virginia corporate laws were so lenient that it became, to use the words of one commentator, the ‘Mecca of Irresponsible Corporations.’ —“Trust and Industrial Corporations in the United States” E. Von Halle, 1896 E. S. AMOS, the Marion County coroner, impaneled a jury in Monongah at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, 1907, the day after the explosion. They were sworn in at the Monongah Mine offices and the inquisition officially began. Immediately, they walked across the river and went to the mine portals where they examined the mine cavities. Activity was still at a furious level as rescue workers and repair crews attempted to rebuild the ventilation systems. A short time later the jury adjourned, resuming on Monday with a viewing of the bodies as they were brought out of the mine. On Tuesday, they met and again adjourned until January 6 when they met in the main courtroom at the Marion County Court House in Fairmont. The courthouse, completed in 1901 and restored in 2007, was an imposing four-story sandstone structure, one of the largest and most elaborate 200 chapter fourteen courthouses in West Virginia. The principal courtroom was the pride of the county, beautifully appointed with oak benches and chairs, capped by a stained-glass dome, windows, and a great gas chandelier. It could accommodate up to 300 spectators on the first floor and large balcony. Amos, the coroner and chairman of the jury, read out the instructions. The jury was charged with determining when, how, and by what means three identified miners—A. H. Morris, Charlie McCann, and John M. McGraw—and “about three hundred and fifty other persons came to their deaths.” The jury system, once considered the bedrock of guaranteed equal justice in the United States, was, during the first years of the twentieth century, showing signs of strain as an anti-immigrant bias swept the country. As a result of the changing population, especially with the influx of eastern and southern Europeans, fears of mob politics caused concern among the high- minded of society. In recent years, such foreigners had been connected with the rise of labor unions and with the riots and strikes in the steel mills of nearby Pittsburgh and in the Pullman yards of Chicago. Criticized as being “frequently corruptible ” in the cities, juries were seen to be “densely ignorant and stubbornly bigoted” against such immigrants.1 In this instance, the jury in Marion County was picked in such a way that it contained neither immigrants nor any member of the affected group, nor persons whose interest would be sympathetic to miners. The jurors were J. M. Jacobs, a member of the state legislature and secretary of the Board of Trade; W. E. Condnay, commissioner of the County Court; Festus Downs, former county commissioner; W. S. Hamilton, also a member of the Marion County Commission; George H. Richardson, formerly street commissioner of Fairmont; and A. S. Prichard. These men were associates of the Watson, Fleming, and Camden families. It could hardly be otherwise in a community the size of Fairmont, especially given the size wheels of justice 201 and importance of the company. E. S. Amos, the jury foreman, was also an elected justice of the peace in Marion County and was politically connected with A. B. Fleming. Just ten months after chairing the Monongah jury on November 6, 1908, he was reelected as justice and wrote to Fleming: I appreciate your friendliness in my late RACE for Justice more than words can express . I assure you that my judicial acts shall be conservative, always friendly to, and bearing in mind the business interests of Marion County, and should a crisis arise then I will gladly heed and thank you for your advice. Wishing you success, I am yours truly. MANY, MANY thanks.2 (emphasis in original) On Monday, January 6, the jury began hearing evidence, and it concluded its work one week later on Monday, January 13. Each witness was first sworn in and then questioned by the Marion County Prosecutor Scott C. Lowe, or the Director of the West Virginia Department of Mines James W. Paul. The Fairmont Coal Company was represented by counsel George W. Alexander, Charles Powell, and Harry Shaw. Alexander was a partner in the Fleming Law Firm and had been assigned by Fleming to monitor matters at the mine on a full-time basis...