Matewan, a town of an estimated 800 people is located in Mingo County West Virginia, is home to workers at area mines, educators, and small business owners, it is a quaint town with many historic buildings including Matewan United Methodist Church. This beautiful building has been a home for generations of my family and many others. The Church has strong ties to the Battle of Matewan, a deadly gunfight on May 19, 1920 that left ten dead. Shortly after the battle, many were looking for safety, and residents of the community found it at the Methodist East South Church. Children were taken away from the bloody street scene and into the basement of the Methodist Church, where games were played and children were fed until the situation was resolved in town. Today, this unique history is written on a plaque outside of the church. The congregation is still active and is proud to preserve pieces of Matewan's history. For example, the church founded an Old Jail Restoration group in 2013, and has been working diligently to restore one of Matewan's oldest buildings: the 1908 Matewan Lockup and City Hall. This restoration has been an all volunteer effort, and is nearly complete today. The congregation also maintains a tradition of holding a local community dinner every month, feeding hundreds in the community.

The Matewan United Methodist Church Entrance Doors 

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This Matewan United Methodist Church was founded in 1892 and was first a one-room wooden structure. The building that stands today was completed in 1933 by Italian Immigrant stone cutters and has been renovated numerous times over the decades. The two-story stone building includes a large basement in addition to classrooms, a sanctuary, and a bell tower with a steeple. 


Matewan United Methodist Church

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The Mine Wars were a decades-long labor struggle in West Virginia between 1902 and 1922. 

Tensions between coal miners and operators began in the late nineteenth century when attempted to unionize threatened the harsh control coal companies held over miners. During 1902 to 1903 Mother, Jones helped coal miners in West Virginia gain some success with unionizing. However, in the decade between coal operators were successful in driving out the Union. By 1912, the miners’ union contract expired, and the operators refused to increase the workers’ wages. Mother Jones came back to West Virginia to help organize the striking coal miners. On April 18th, the strike began in the Kanawha Valley. Coal operators hired the Baldwin-Felts detectives to work as mine guards. Violence subsequently ensued between the mine guards and the coal miners. The Baldwin-Felts detectives were instructed to harass miners and their families in hopes they would leave the Kanawha Valley. However, the miners did not back down from the intimidation tactics employed by coal operators.Violence escalated from both sides prompting Governor Glasscock to declare martial law. The small town of Pratt was converted into a makeshift prison camp for miners arrested during the period of martial law. Here, the miners awaited trial through a military tribunal. Most notable of strikers arrested and imprisoned at Pratt was Mother Jones in February 1913. Mother Jones helped bring national attention to the plight of coal miners in West Virginia. Despite becoming ill with pneumonia, Governor Glasscock would not release Jones. However, when Governor Hatfield was elected he allowed Jones to receive treatment and recover in Charleston, but she was sent back to Pratt. Jones was able to sneak letters out further her cause for striking coal miners. After several months imprisoned at the Pratt Boarding House, Mother Jones was released, but not without violence and unconstitutional imprisonment according to Jones.

This is the location of the former Pratt Boarding House, which became famous during the coal wars of 1912-1913 when West Virginia Governor William Glasscock ordered the arrest of labor activist Mary "Mother" Jones. Jones and other labor leaders were imprisoned inside the Pratt Boarding House until public opinion and possible federal intervention convinced the new governor to release Jones. The Boarding House was listed on the National Register of HIstoric Places in 1992 until it was demolished four years later and replaced with a four-unit apartment building. During the years 1912 to 1913, several of the most intense labor conflicts in American history occurred as miners throughout the Kanawha and New River coalfields of West Virginia attempted to organize. Labor activist Mary Harris "Mother" Jones helped organize the miners, traveling by foot throughout the area and helping local leaders organize a series of strikes throughout these turbulent years. Owing to her skill and compassion for their plight, the miners rallied around Mother Jones, whose presence in the coalfields both comforted the miners and troubled the coal operators. The miners' strike officially started on April 18, 1912 when coal operators refused to abide by the miners demands. The strike soon spread to include several thousand miners from Paint Creek to Cabin Creek. Mother Jones supported the miners and their attempts to gain leverage by working together. The mine operators shared a different perspective and hired the Baldwin-Felts detectives to disrupt the strike. By this time, the Baldwin_felts agency was notorious for their use of violence to curb strikes--a situation that often inspired equal violence on the part of striking miners. When some of the Baldwin-Felts mine guards threatened the families of miners, violence ensued on both sides. As Baldwin-Felts men brought weapons into the area, the coal miners attacked their positions leading to the deaths of several of the mine guards. After Mother Jones organized a march to the Capitol building to protest the actions of the coal companies and their operatives, the governor declared martial law and ordered the arrest of Mother Jones and other labor leaders. After federal officials indicated that they might intervene and as public attention turned against the state government, the new governor, Henry Hatfield, traveled to the area. Seeing how sick Jones had become in captivity, he ordered her release under the condition that she leave the state.

Mother Jones Imprisoned at Pratt Boarding House, 1913 Historical Marker 

On April 18, 1912 miners pleaded with their supervisors and the coal operators of the Paint Creek Mine for an increase in payment and healthy working conditions. This plea would fall on deaf ears and be rejected their proposal. The strike that would follow, led by the unionized miners, would be one of the most dramatic labor conflicts seen in the state of West Virginia. The strike would spread in the local area like a flood. It would reach other mining sections, like Cabin Creek, along the Kanawha River. The growing problem faced with the miners on strike was that these sections had not unionized.This became the nucleus of the issues that the miners would have. Though fair wages and equal payment were important in the impoverished state, the number one focus was unionization. They needed more people to rally to their cause and they demanded that the United Mine Workers of America to play as their arbiter. They had hoped this would bring an end to the mine guards and Blacklisting this was emplaced by the coal barons who sought control and order in this situation. The mine operators would drive out anyone who unionized with the help of hundreds of Baldwin-Felts agents in a belief that this was some queer tactic by their competitors from the Midwest to ruin business in the mountain state. The coal operators would even bring in nonunion miners to replace those who fought for their rights.Coal camps soon became war camps, as many miners acquired weapons of their own to fight against apposing DA agents, machine gun encampments, and mine guards. With the help of the 86-year-old miners’ rights activist, Mother Jones, and the Social Party, the unionized miners were ready for war. The miners knew the area better than the agents did, so guerilla warfare played into their favor when the battles at Mucklow, Dry Branch, and Eskdale pulled both sides into armed conflict; unfortunately, both sides would face significant casualties. In February 1913, Governor Glasscock would implement martial law in this territory, even though there was a peacetime emplaced. This led to the arrest of the 200 plus miners who fought to end their enslavement and the determined Mother Jones herself. The Paint Creek Junction at this time was too heavily occupied by the large number of miners who were arrested, and many had to be imprisoned in cabins, train stations, company stores and even a church that a pastor swore loyalty to the coal barons. Mother Jones was being held in a cabin close to the mouth of Paint Creek and was guarded by two armed soldiers.When Governor Henry D. Hatfield took office in March 1913 his first action would be to create a settlement on the strike of Paint Creek. He pardoned the majority of the miners but the most influential of their party would stay in jail. He also sent National Guard personnel to close down the Socialist newspapers in all of Charleston and neighboring Huntington. The U.S. Senate would later create an investigation in West Virginia state government to understand the causes of the strike of 1912. The miners, however, would develop plans of their own. Frank Keeney and Fred Mooney would be elected as president of the labor activists and secretary-treasurer for the 17th district of West Virginia, and would lead the coming conflicts in the approaching decades.

The Paint Creek labor strike was one of the largest and bloodiest confrontations between miners and coal operators the state of West Virginia had ever seen. It led to the arrest of over 200 unionized miners and Mother Jones herself. To this day it is one of the largest armed conflicts between labors union rights for miners the United States has ever witnessed. 

Paint Creek / Cabin Creek Strike of 1912, Charelston WV

From 1912-1922 the increasingly violent Mine Wars waged in the southern coalfields of West Virginia. Miners of the state joined with the United Mine Workers of America to help liberate southern mines and to change the unfair wages that were enforced by the oppressive coal companies the miners worked for. The coal operators responded by using their power and wealth in an attempt to end what they say as a rebellion. Major conflicts of the mine wars include the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek Strike in 1912, the Battle of Matewan or the “Matewan Massacre” in May 1920, and the Battle of the Tug. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the climactic end to the Mine Wars of West Virginia.In August 1921, an estimated force of 7,000 to 20,000 armed miners gathered in the town of Marmet with the goal to march south and unionize and liberate the southern West Virginia coal mines. Charismatic individuals, such as William “Bill” Blizzard, were respected leaders of the march, along with veterans of the first World War. Thanks to the many who had previously served in the war, it proved to be effective when forming like a true armed military, given they were armed with mere hunting rifles and pistols. To show their support of the union, many wore red bandannas around their necks to identify themselves. Due to this gesture of unity, a national newspaper coined the miners as “rednecks,” giving birth to the term. The miners walked, rode and drove vehicles, and even commandeered a train to transport them to the southern coalfields.The large armed force moved south to the border of Boone and Logan county without resistance, until they were met by state police, volunteer militia, and Logan County sheriff, Don Chafin. Coal companies had also hired guns who had amassed along the ridge of Blair Mountain. The miners faced machine guns, small arms, and even crude bombs which were dropped from small airplanes. West Virginia Governor Ephraim Morgan urgently requested federal assistance to end the skirmish, which President Warren G. Harding sent 2,500 federal troops along with a small bomber squadron to disperse the conflict. The miners laid down their arms once they met U.S. troops, for they did not wish to harm those they respected. To this day, the number of casualties is roughly unknown. Many miners would be charged with murder and treason, including their leader William “Bill” Blizzard, who would be acquitted of these charges once evidence of homemade bombs that were dropped from Sheriff Chafins’ private plane was brought forth.The Battle of Blair Mountain remains the largest labor uprising in American history. Though the coal companies succeeded in suppressing the right to unionize in West Virginia, the Blair Mountain battle would resonate greatly for future labor laws throughout the country. The conflict put the dangerous, oppressive conditions of coal miners into the national spotlight, and in 1935 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Labor Relations Act, also known as the Wagner Act.In 2006, the Blair Mountain battlefield was deemed an Endangered Historic Place by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 2009, the battlefield was added to the National Register of Historic Places, a list of significant historic sites administered by the National Park Service, an agency of the Department of the Interior. Yet just one week later, the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) of West Virginia requested the site be removed, claiming property owners rejected the National Register listing. The National Register of Historic Places helps legitimize a historic site and can facilitate preservation through tax credits, federal grants, and consideration in federal projects like highways. While the National Register still gives property owners the right to do what they want with the property, it does require the historic value of a site to be considered in the issuing of surface mining permits. At Blair Mountain battlefield, some of the largest coal companies hold permits to engage in surface mining, also known as “mountaintop removal” for its destructive effects on the natural landscape. At the urging of a coal company lawyer, the Blair Mountain battlefield was officially removed from the National Register of Historic Places by the end of 2009. Coal companies praised the Department of the Interior’s decision, while preservationists feared the loss of the historic site. Blair Mountain’s 1,700-acre battlefield encompasses trenches, earthworks, foxholes, and numerous artifacts, including weapons and shell casings.On June 21, 2018, a decision was signed upon by Joe Beasley, National Park Services Keeper of the Register, to make it so that Blair Mountain Battle site would be placed back of the NRHP. This has given the people of the Blair area, and of West Virginia as a whole, a sense of great victory and final accomplishment for those who sacrificed themselves for freedom.

Dedicated in 2002, this marker shares the history of the Battle of Blair Mountain, the culminating event of the West Virginia Mine Wars. The mine wars were a series of strikes, battles, and marches that took place in the southern West Virginia coalfields from 1912 to 1922. It remains the largest labor uprising in American history. In August 1921, thousands of armed pro-union miners assembled in the town of Marmet, West Virginia. As these union miners marched south to the border of Boone and Logan counties, the Logan County Sheriff, state police, the state militia, and coal company employees had assembled to stop the miners from entering Logan County. A four-day firefight followed, killing over 100 miners and at least twenty anti-union men. The federal government responded by deploying 2,500 soldiers and a small squadron of bombers to the area. 

Battle of Blair Mountain Historical Marker

Sheriff Don Chafin was born in Marrowbone Creek in Kermit, West Virginia on June 26, 1887. Originally in Logan County, the area became part of Mingo County in 1895. Don was born into a family of eleven children. He was educated at Marshall College (now Marshall University). Chafin had many careers, ranging from store clerk to teacher.   Don Chafin easily made his way into the political elite of Logan County. He was the county assessor by age 21. At 25, he became the county sheriff for one term. In Logan County, individuals could not serve consecutively in the same office. Chafin then served as county clerk. Rather than lose his grip on Logan, he succeeded in placing his father-in-law in the post of sheriff. Don Chafin again became sheriff in 1920. With a tight hold on the political structure of Logan County, the man was a force to be reckoned with when it came to the Mine Wars.During the Mine Wars, Sheriff Don Chafin was a pivotal figure in attempting to halt the movements of the United Mine Workers of America to organize miners in Logan County. He was a formidable opponent against union organizers, and developed a reputation for his brutal tactics. Don Chafin was despised by unionists. When he walked into the headquarters of UMWA District 17 in 1919 he was shot and wounded. Chafin was funded by non-union coal operators in the area. When the Logan County Coal Operators’ Association decided to form its own police force, Chafin and his deputies were hired by the Operators’ Association to keep the peace, and to keep out the union. Sheriff Chafin was allegedly paid approximately $2,275 a month to work for them.Sheriff Chafin and his force of deputies formed the major defending force during the infamous Battle of Blair Mountain that took place in August 1921. Armed union coal miners from Kanawha, Fayette, Boone, McDowell, and many other counties participated in a pitched battle along the heights and gaps of Blair Mountain. The number of miners that participated is estimated at between 7,000 and 20,000. An exact number remains uncertain. Chafin's force numbered perhaps 2,000 defenders, including a few locally-owned planes that dropped homemade bombs on the miners during the battle. The Battle of Blair Mountain ended after President Warren G. Harding deployed 2,500 federal troops and a squadron of bombers to the area. Following the Battle of Blair Mountain, Don Chafin would serve time in a federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. His incarceration was not due to his actions in the Mine Wars, but for a violation of Prohibition statutes. In 1929, he left the Logan area and moved to Huntington. Don Chafin died in Huntington on August 9, 1954 at age 67. In his later years, he was a noted philanthropist, giving money freely to many charities. Sheriff Don Chafin's memory lives on in the area. To this day, he remains one of the most prominent, yet controversial, figures in the history of Logan County and southern West Virginia. Throughout the Mine Wars era, Don Chafin had his home in Logan, West Virginia. The two-story residence was built in a shingle style around 1900. It is believed that Chafin's brother-in-law, Frank Hurst, built the home. Hurst was one of two owners before Chafin acquired the property. Situated near downtown Logan, the home faces Main Street, known by local residents as "The Boulevard." In 1946, the residence was placed in the care of the Woman’s Club of Logan and once served as a public library. Today, the home remains under the ownership of the Woman's Club of Logan, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Logan County is well-known for its rich history related to the Mine Wars. One of the more notorious figures against the labor movement, Don Chafin, made his home in Logan. As sheriff of Logan County, the so-called “Czar of Logan” was a well-known figure in the struggle for unionization in the Southern West Virginia coalfields. 

The Don Chafin House

Stone Mountain Coal Camp was home to many miners--Blacks, whites, and immigrants--and their families while they worked for the company. Coal companies created a complete system of control over their workers. Not only did they own the mines, they owned entire towns: company stores (that accepted their own form of currency known as scrip), housing, schools, doctors, churches, and cemeteries. This authoritative system inspired songs such as the popular “16 tons” ballad by Tennessee Ernie Ford, with lyrics like “I owe my soul to the company store.”  These camps were almost always unincorporated. To keep order and maintain obedience among the camps, coal companies employed mine guards to police their towns and squash any efforts to organize for fair living conditions and basic civil rights. At Stone Mountain Coal Camp, these gunmen were the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. The guards exerted power over miners by brutal force and received the reputation as thugs. The mine guards answered to no one but the company and its operators.  Miners often had to sign “yellow dog contracts” in which the worker agrees not to remain in or join a union. Those who refused to sign were fired and Blacklisted from the mines. Once fired, miners and their families, along with what assets and furniture they had, were thrown out of their company-owned housing, forcing them to live in tent colonies for periods of time, and oftentimes, in harsh conditions.  During the early 20th century, miners across southern West Virginia collectively organized to form a union and enjoy basic civil rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, and better pay. By January 1, 1920, the UMWA had some successes organizing the Kanawha Coalfields; however, the companies still had a stronghold in Southern WV. On January 30, 1920, UMWA President John L. Lewis and District 17 President Frank Keeney held a public meeting in Bluefield, WV--home of the headquarters of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Here, they announced their intentions to organize the non-union southern counties of West Virginia, including Mingo, Logan, and McDowell. Some 3,000 miners responded to this call, including miners at the Stone Mountain Coal Corporation near Matewan. Detectives arrived in Matewan on the Number 29 Train on the morning of May 19, 1920. The detectives had one intent that day: evict those who joined the union out of their coal company housing. They were led by Albert and Lee Felts, and made their way from North Matewan all the way down to Warm Hollow, carrying out evictions along the way. Thirteen detectives arrived in town that day, and only six would leave Matewan alive.  Various remnants of the camp are still found today, though there’s little there to recognize it and what happened. This Clio entry aims to remember those miners who fought for unionization and their monumental struggles that are often forgotten today.

Stone Mountain Coal Camp was built in the early 1900s by and for the coal company. It was an unincorporated town in Mingo County, West Virginia, with scattered land-holdings that stretched from North Matewan to Warm Hollow, which is strikingly close to the city limits of Matewan. Many miners and their families who lived here were violently evicted out of their company-owned housing on the morning of May 19, 1920 as an attempt to break the strike. These evictions left dozens of families homeless and led to the Battle of Matewan later that day, an event that left 10 people dead or dying. 

Stone Mountain Coal Camp 

The Battle of Matewan, more commonly known as the Matewan Massacre, was a battle fought between the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency and local miners. It took place in Mingo County, West Virginia, and was another instance in history where a struggle for better working conditions and salaries was waged. Miners during this time were paid low wages and worked under notoriously unsafe conditions. Instead of being paid in cash, the miners were paid with a currency known as scrip. Scrip could only be used in company stores to buy company products or directly deducted from miners' pay as rent expenses. As such, the company could control their workers as the value of any wages could be altered by raising the cost of rent and goods. It also meant that any wages paid to miners would return to the company and left it up to management to determine whether they would charge above or below market rates. At some company stores, prices were competitive or even better than a miner might find elsewhere. However, company stores were created primarily to control the labor force and many miners resented the practice and demanded payment in cash. They also wanted the state to regulate payments based on tonnage, as they provided evidence that coal companies under-weighed the coal they produced and often failed to pay the miners on days when the daily quota was not met. The success and effectiveness of strikes across the United States led the local miners of Matewan to sign to the Union. As a result, coal companies (the primary company involved in the Matewan Massacre was the Stone Mountain Coal Company) retaliated in order to control their miners. A group of Baldwin-Felts detectives were hired to evict the miners and their families from their homes. This unfair treatment led to a bloody and brutal shootout on May 19, 1920 that left seven Baldwin-Felts detectives, the Mayor of Matewan and two miners dead. Although the Massacre was a brief exchange, “the events that followed in its wake included a 28-month strike that led to two dozen deaths, West Virginia’s longest and most controversial murder trail to date, a United States Senate investigation, the retaliatory assassination of Sid Hatfield, and the largest armed civilian insurrection since the Civil War” (Bailey, Matewan Before the Massacre, 7). Despite these events, the brave stand made by the miners, paved the way for fair pay and better working conditions within southern West Virginia.The Battle of Matewan may appear as a small event, but it led to greater unity among miners leading up to the proliferation of unions in the southern West Virginia coalfields during World War II. As miners organized under the Democratic Party, workers began to have a stronger voice in government culminating with the Wagner Act. This law gave the federal government power to intervene when a majority of workers supported a union. The Wagner Act also required management to recognize the right of workers to form a union until it was amended by the Taft-Hartley Act. Mingo County is known as “Bloody Mingo” because of its labor strife and corrupt politics. Visitors to the historic town of Matewan will learn about Mingo County’s mine wars and the gruesome battles of the early 20th century that spurred many miners toward unionization. Mingo County is also in the heart of the coalfields of West Virginia. Those who visit during the town's Heritage Day, which takes place annually on the Saturday closest to the anniversary of the Matewan Massacre, will be granted the opportunity to watch a reenactment of the battle while also getting a tour of the town.

Dedicated in 2012, this West Virginia historical marker shares the history of an 1920 attack on coal miners. On May 19, 1920, 13 armed men working for the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency came to the town of Matewan with the intention of evicting pro-union miners from coal company-owned houses. The Matewan Chief of Police, Sid Hatfield, the Mayor, Cabell Cornell Testerman, and several other locals gathered at the Matewan train station to arrest the coal company's hired guns on the grounds that the evictions were unlawful. However, the Baldwin Felts Detectives refused to recognize the authority of law enforcement. A shootout occurred, and while the details of that episode of violence are debated, all agree that when the smoke cleared seven detectives, two miners, and mayor Testerman had all been fatally wounded. The Matewan Massacre was one of many violent conflicts to take place in southern West Virginia in the early 20th century (known as the "Mine Wars") between pro-union miners and men hired by the coal companies to use force and intimidation to prevent the formation of unions. 

Matewan Massacre Historical Marker

Matewan, a town of an estimated 800 people is located in Mingo County West Virginia, is home to workers at area mines, educators, and small business owners, it is a quaint town with many historic buildings including Matewan United Methodist Church. This beautiful building has been a home for generations of my family and many others.  The Church has strong ties to the Battle of Matewan, a deadly gunfight on May 19, 1920 that left ten dead. Shortly after the battle, many were looking for safety, and residents of the community found it at the Methodist East South Church. Children were taken away from the bloody street scene and into the basement of the Methodist Church, where games were played and children were fed until the situation was resolved in town.  Today, this unique history is written on a plaque outside of the church. The congregation is still active and is proud to preserve pieces of Matewan's history. For example, the church founded an Old Jail Restoration group in 2013, and has been working diligently to restore one of Matewan's oldest buildings: the 1908 Matewan Lockup and City Hall. This restoration has been an all volunteer effort, and is nearly complete today.  The congregation also maintains a tradition of holding a local community dinner every month, feeding hundreds in the community.

It didn’t take long for Matewan to become a thriving and incorporated town when Norfolk and Western first laid down their track. Matewan was incorporated in 1895, and soon became a regional center, providing a direct route from the town of Matewan to Bluefield. Between 1890 and 1920, the overall population of southern West Virginia quadrupled. This was the case for many towns in Appalachia after the railroad emerged. Where did these people come from, and why? Coal development, coupled with the railroad and the industrial revolution, would explain the sudden growth spurt in towns like Matewan. Like Stan Cohen explains in King Coal, "[a]s more trackage was laid following the Civil War, there was a corresponding increase in the volume of coal mined and shipped from the state."Indeed, the expansion of the railroad set the stage for coal companies to perform their work. Coal companies would recruit workers from across the world and nation--African Americans from the U.S. South, Hungarians, Italians, and more--and bring them to Mingo County to work in the coal mines. Mine owner Justus Collins encouraged mine operators to hire a “judicious mixture” of races and ethnicities to curb unionization and collective action on behalf of the workers.Coal companies would build an entire town for their workers, and the closest company town to Matewan would be Stone Mountain Coal Company; however, there are remnants of company towns still scattered throughout West Virginia. Many of these workers would arrive to coal company camps in a passenger train, and they’d discover that they were already indebted to their employer’s for their ride into town. What’s more, coal miners had to also pay for their own living expenses and tools to work, such as the company doctor, food, dynamite, and feed for the mule.The Norfolk and Western Railroad had many contributions to the fabric of United States history, but here in Matewan, the railroad opened the southern coalfields up for business, provided transportation in and out of these hills, and exported coal to eastern and world markets.

The Norfolk and Western Railroad played a pivotal role in the development of Matewan’s history. Matewan was a rural and remote area when initially founded by F.A.J. Ferrell in 1890. The town’s growth intensified over the next decade as Norfolk and Western Railroad began it's Ohio extension and started moving into the Williamson Coal Field in 1892. The use of the railway has been crucial to the rise of King Coal in Southern West Virginia. And for a long time, it was the primary means of transportation for people in and out of the remote mountains. Rail line also provided a means of transportation for companies that extracted "Black gold," or coal, from the Appalachian mountains. Visitors can still see trains frequenting the tracks, transporting coal to outside markets. 

Norfolk and Western Railroad in Matewan, WV 

William Sidney “Sid” Hatfield was born May 15, 1891 in Blackberry, Kentucky. The tenth child of twelve, Sid Hatfield was also one of the infamous “Devil Anse” Hatfield's grandchildren. Hatfield worked with his father Jacob on their family farm up until his teenage years, then later picked an apprenticeship as a Blacksmith after working some time in the coal mines. A man with a modest build and a short temper, he later earned a reputation as an active brawler. He was also known as “Smilin’ Sid” given his iconic grin filled with gold capped teeth.In 1919, Sid lived in Matewan, West Virginia and was appointed chief of police by his friend, mayor Cabell Testerman, when the miner’s unions were threatened by the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency. Hatfield was adamant when it came to standing up against the Baldwin Felts agents and the coal companies that hired them as mine guards. The Baldwin-Felts agents tried every form of bribery to convert Hatfield to their side. From money to machine guns for the police barracks, Hatfield refused these ploys and sought to enforce equal justice to the relief of the miners and their families who had known little justice in their lives. On May 19, 1920, Sid Hatfield and the mayor resisted the forced evictions of the unionized miners by the agents hired by the coal company. This led to a bloody gunfight that would be known as the “Matewan Massacre,” with many miners injured or killed along with seven agents. The mayor was also killed. Tomas Felts, one of the founders of Baldwin-Felts D.A. and brother of the now slain Albert Felts, claimed that the mayor was killed by Sid Hatfield and not by his brother, Albert, who was involved in the fighting. Sid was acquitted, partly with the help of the mayor's widow who testified that although she was now living with Hatfield, it had been her late husband’s last wish that Hatfield care for her and her son should something happen to him. Sid Hatfield would later go and play himself in a UMWA propaganda film called, “Smilin’ Sid,” a reenactment of the Battle of Matewan. He would be known as a hero to the miners and a villain of the Baldwin-Felts D.A.The coal company took over the town in 1921 and martial law was enacted that summer. Sid Hatfield was ousted as police chief, but found a new position as Constable of Magnolia District. His struggle with Baldwin-Felts D.A. had continued, and he faced trail yet again on August 1, 1921, after being accused of raining gun fire upon unarmed, and unionized miners in Mohawk, West Virginia. The secret testimony of Charles Lively, a known spy for the agency, suggested that Hatfield had decided in favor of attacking nonunion miners. Numerous witnesses were prepared to testify that this accusation was false and yet another attempt by mine operators to convict Hatfield of something he did not do. Sid Hatfield never got his day in court, however. As he and his deputy, Edward Chambers, approached the courthouse steps in Welch, they were gunned down by Baldwin-Felts agents including Charles Lively himself. Though the killers were charged, but they were not convicted of their role in Hatfield's assassination. In the century that followed, Sid Hatfield has been regarded as a heroic symbol among miners and the people of Appalachia.

William Sidney “Sid” Hatfield was the chief of police and town hero of Matewan during the Mine Wars of West Virginia from 1919 to 1921. Sid Hatfield grew up in Blackberry, Kentucky, and is best known for standing up for miners and community members and against the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency when they were hired by coal companies to evict unionized miners from their homes. The conflict escalated into a bloody gunfight. On August 1, 1921, Hatfield was assassinated by men representing coal operators on the Welch city courthouse steps. 

The Grave of Sid Hatfield, Buskirk Cemetery

In the early half of 1912, West Virginia was experiencing civil unrest in regards of the miners of the state wishing to unionize for fairer wages and healthier working conditions. During this time miners in the southern half of the state were paid by the coal operators with a company currency known as “script”. Once miners wished for actual pay it led to many armed conflicts in the state. Governor John J. Cornwell was under stress given that the majority of National Guard of the state were being sent off to WWI, and Cornwell was needing state militia to enact martial law upon the southern counties. The governor was able to issue three separate gubernatorial martial law proclamations that helped calm things as much as they could till June 1914.With no state militia industrial violence and the slaughter of civility in the state, the governor had more than enough backing from state officials to form a constabulary. A state police bill was passed on March 29th, 1919 this would create what would be known as the “Department of Public Safety”. Jackson Arnold was appointed superintendent of this new department, but he faced issue with trying to find adequate members to form these new police forces. Over the next three years this would be a common occurrence with many of the miners in small towns striking out against the state police, Baldwin-Felts DA, and state constabulary. Captain of the state police, James R. Brockus kept most of the peace in all of Mingo County, especially during the three-day Battle of the Tug in 1921. With fear of more uprising to come Captain Brockus ordered for a meeting to issue anyone willing to wield a rifle will help him keep the peace in Mingo County. A Vigilance Committee was made of 250 vigilantes and, eventually, nearly 800 men to serve as acting state troopers.When governor Ephraim F. Morgan took office, he was thrown into the turmoil that was befalling the state and issued that Mingo county under new martial law on May 19th, 1921, and stating that the county was further in “a state of war, riot, and insurrection.” He granted Major Thomas B. Davis to be the general of the state’s militia and his personal agent in Mingo County. Davis was given power and jurisdiction in every county and would be able to command and state or county officer he wished to. Captain Brockus would lead his own career’s demise when he would arrest A. D. Lavinder, a UMWA representative from Virginia, and brutally apprehend him in an ice cream parlor. He was arrested for carrying a pistol, even though he had permits granting him permission to have it, and was delivered to a prison in McDowell County.Many miners who were now evicted from their company owned homes by the Baldwin-Felts agents were now creating tent colonies around Lick Creek and other rivers in the area. Major Davis traveled to Charleston to plea that the militia was being “too gentle” on the member of the colonies given their violence and resistance towards his men. Peace would be had for a short period of time from May till June 1921. On June 8th, colonists were sniping at cars when they would pass on a public road. Brockus and his troopers were fired upon after more shooting were reported in and led to the raid of their tent colony near Lick Creek. This led to 47 arrests of miners from the tent colony, but something interesting happened during the testimony. Davis, who accompanied Brockus during the raid, stated that he and his men acted accordingly and professionally when searching the camp, but the strikers stated that he and his men broke locks, plundered supplies, brutalized men, and assaulted women and children. On June 14th, 1921, A.D. Lavinder and other jailed members of the UMWA filed writs of habeas corpus. They stated that since the martial law proclamation exceeded the requirements of common and statute law, and probably violated the United States constitution, and that there were no official members of military service acting as the police force, the proclamation would have to be lifted and all arrests under it be set free.

Located close to the town of Williamson, the Lick Creek tent colony was the largest, and one of many evicted miners settlements in Mingo County of southern West Virginia. During the summer of 1921, armed state militia, state troopers, and constabulary led by captain of state police, James R. Brockus and Major Thomas B. Davis to evict the unionizing miners of the temporary settlement and arrest them of their terrorist crimes. 

Tent Colony of Lick Creek, Williamson

The McDowell County Courthouse in Welch, West Virginia, is located on a hillside next to Wyoming Street overlooking downtown. The building was designed in 1893 by Frank Milburn Pierce and represents Romanesque Revival style architecture. According to West Virginia Division of Culture and History, “Buildings constructed in this style exhibit elements taken from the Greek Revival style, but also incorporate round arches on windows and entrances, heavy masonry piers and richly decorated cornices” (WVDCH, wvculture.org). The most notorious aspect of the building, however, are the steps to the courthouse, which are infamously associated with the murders of Sid Hatfield and Edward Chambers by Baldwin &amp; Felts detective agents.Sid Hatfield was a well-known labor leader and union organizer from Mingo County. He was Chief of Police at Matewan and nicknamed the ‘Miners’ Hero.’ He is renowned for spurring the Matewan Massacre and killing two Baldwin &amp; Felts agents during the event. Edward Chambers, friend of Matewan mayor C.C. Testerman and a Matewan native himself, was the president of the county court. Together, Hatfield and Chambers worked to unionize the southern Appalachian coalfields.On August 1, 1921 Hatfield and Chambers arrived at the Welch Depot to stand trial for a shooting incident that occurred at the mining camp of Mohawk in McDowell County. Baldwin-Felts mine guards, headed by ‘Buster’ Pense, Bill Salter, and Everett Lively, flanked the courthouse as they waited for Hatfield and Chambers, accompanied by their wives, to reach the building. Once they had arrived, the trio of deadly gunmen began firing at the unsuspecting Matewan men. One mine guard, Hughey Lucas, “turned and fired a number of shots against the stone wall of the courthouse to make it appear that Hatfield and Chambers were armed and had fired first at the mine guards, but missed” (Lee, Bloodletting in Appalachia, 68). Hatfield had been pierced by four bullets while Chambers had been shot three times, both died instantly. Miraculously the defendants were acquitted on the grounds of self-defense. This event shows how coal operators and anti-unionists dominated southern West Virginia government during the early nineteenth century.Although the killings had been witnessed by several bystanders, Welch citizens, fearful of the mine guards’ retribution, remained silent. According to Howard B. Lee, author of Bloodletting In Appalachia, the killings “were carefully planned and deliberately carried out by the mine guards, with the connivance of certain county officials. Lee believes that the trials of the killers were little more than a farce, staged for the sole purpose of acquitting them. Unfortunately, Hatfield and Chambers were the victims of private vengeance and had to pay the price for their part in the Matewan Massacre. Today, both McDowell and Mingo County residents continue to debate the outcome of the fateful incident that occurred on the steps of the McDowell County courthouse.

Designed by popular southern architect Frank Pierce Milburn, the Welch courthouse was built in 1893-34 in the Romanesque Revival style. In 1909, an addition was built on to the original edifice. The Welch courthouse is the site of the assassination of Police Chief Sid Hatfield, whom was shot by detectives from the Baldwin-Felts agency on August 1, 1921 on the steps to the building.

West Virginia Mine Wars Heritage Trail

Matewan United Methodist Church

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources

Additional Information