A farewell letter written by a miner trapped in one of the most devastating mining disasters in American history in 1902 has recently gone viral online. The letter is signed by a man named Jacob Vowell, who penned his final words to his wife, Ellen, as he faced imminent death.

On May 19, 1902, a catastrophic coal dust explosion occurred in Fraterville, Tennessee, killing 190 miners instantly. The remaining 26 miners attempted to seek shelter in a deeper passage, but they later succumbed to asphyxiation.

Vowell was one of the trapped miners who wrote a final message to their loved ones, either in the form of letters or inscribed on the passage walls.

The letter begins with Vowell bidding a heartbreaking farewell to his wife and children. He implores his wife to care for their children to the best of her ability and to remember him until the very end.

“I have to leave you in bad condition. Now, dear wife, put your trust in the Lord to help you raise my little children. Ellen, take care of my darling little Lillie. Ellen, little Elbert said that he trusts in the Lord. Charlie Wilkes said that he is safe in Heaven if he should never see the outside again,” the letter reads. “If we should never get out we are not hurt, only perished. There are but a few of us here and I don’t know where the other men are. Elbert said for you to meet him in Heaven. Tell all the children to meet with us both there.”

“Oh, how I wish to be with you. There are a few of us alive yet. Oh, God, for one more breath,” he added.

The Fraterville mining disaster, in which 216 men lost their lives, raised major concerns about mining safety practices and prompted calls for regulatory reforms to better protect miners.

In commemoration of the miners who perished, the Coal Creek Community has established an exhibit at the Lenoir Museum in Norris Dam State Park. The personal letters written by trapped miners, such as the recently viral one by Jacob Powell, serve as a stark and poignant reminder of the immense human toll of this tragic mining disaster.

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