Coalpail.com Forum

When boys were men... that's a great image though.

I think it's great you post things like this. I particularly like this one.

After 8 months of living with my parents, and while battling lung cancer, my grandpa, age 92, passed away in June of 2015.

That photo reminds me of the many stories he used to tell us and it gives me a glimpse of what he may have looked like as a young boy going to work for the first time way down in the mine. His first pair of shoes was two short little wooden slats with holes bored in them for some leather strips to hold them to his feet.

His first trip into the mines of eastern Kentucky was with his 12 year old brother when my grandpa was only 7 years old. Seven years old! It wasn't child abuse...it was survival. Great Grand Pap passed 4 months before Pap was born leaving Mammy (My great grandma) with 4 young mouths to feed.

These photo's show us how hard times were for many, how hard the folks were, how hard they worked to survive...and they show us the grit of the people that made this country what it is today.

thanks, if you want some more in depth insight on this guy and the social system of life back then click the "here" link at the end of the first line of info under the picture.

amazing account of your family too.

really cool stuff

Thanks. I will check that out.

The sad thing is, my Pap died knowing nothing about his father but his name. My only regret was not being able to help him know more about his dad, and I tried...I'm still trying.

My mom has pictures of Pap around 1940ish, 20ish years old, standing next to the coal truck he bought and paid for to get out of the mines. Apparently a fella in or near Clay County, Kentucky, named Mr. A. Rose, took a shine to Pap and helped him in his trucking business, or perhaps Pap hauled coal for him. I'd like to find out more about this man and his family. Pap and Mr. Rose must have had a great relationship because Pap named one of his sons A. Rose ------ ...and my uncle to this day has Pap's carbide light he carried into the mines...a reminder of our mining heritage...and a people we still hold dear to our hearts.