Black Gold
“Coal mining began in Vermilion County about 1866 when William Kirkland, Hugh Blackney, Graves and Lafferty began strip mining in the Grape Creek area. Labor was scarce so Kirkland imported the first miners. A shipload of Belgian miners was brought in to show the early coal mine developers how to start the slopes and how best to mine profitably. After that, there was a steady influx of Belgians every year when they heard coal mines were booming in Vermilion County.
Mining in the Westville area began about 1880. The shaft of the first big mine was sunk at Himrod in 1895 by the Himrod Coal Company. The mine was sold to the Kelly interests in 1908 and was closed, it was thought, temporarily, soon after. However, a water main burst in the mine and it never reopened.
Mike Kelly, a native of Ireland, had come to the Grape Creek area after some strip mining in the Hungry Hollow region. He obtained the contract to supply coal for the Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad. This was his first big break.
Soon after the Twentieth Century began, he discovered another and better vein of coal. With L.T. Dickerson as a partner his business flourished. He bought out Dickerson; he bought more land. He became the largest individual coal operator in Illinois when in 1903 he purchased the Himrod Coal Company for $260,000. In 1905 he sold his interests to Sen. William B. McKinley for three million dollars.
In 1890 there were 64 mines in production in the county. Twice, in 1897 and in 1899, Vermilion Country ranked first in coal production in Illinois. At that time 4,000 people were employed in the mines.
The Vermilion mine was first sunk in 1902 by John T. Dickerson, who with Mike Kelly also operated the first bank in Westville. (Kelly later bought out Dickerson in the bank.) Dickerson sold his mine interest to John Vermilion (hence the name.)
Little Vermilion was organized in 1907.
Eastern capital entered the picture when these properties were acquired by the Bunsen Company in 1908. The Bunsenville shaft was sunk in 1909, and the mine was opened five years later. A small community grew up around the mine, which bore the name of the man Bunson. Ultimately U.S. Fuel, a subsidiary of U.S. Steel, was created and became the owner of the extensive Vermilion County mines.
The Kelly Mines No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were situated around the town; the Bunsen, Peabody and the Dering Coal Co., all contributed to increased coal production – but while it provided daily bread for the miner and his family, it also created hardship, violence and bloodshed.
Poor working conditions, long hours and small pay caused strike after strike. Most memorable was the Big Strike of 1896, remembered by every old timer of the coal mines – a story lived and re-lived, told and re-told. Worn out shoes and there was no money to replace them; empty pantries, and cardboard in the children’s shoes. Ensuing years brought more strikes, all of long duration and all a struggle – but each a victory. One in 1906 lasted three months, another of similar duration in 1910, a six-month struggle in 1912, another in 1932. Little by little the miner’s union, headed by John L. Lewis, brought about a wage scale, improved working conditions, shorter working hours, child labor laws.
The depression hit the mines and miners hard, as it did all other industries. It was common for miners to bank together and open “dog hole” operations on a hillside for as little as $25 outlay. Most sales were local, but the work kept the men going during the bad years.
Mining in the county began declining soon after. One reason for the decline was poor roof conditions. As long as mining was by hand this was no problem, but with the extensive of mining machinery the question of safety was involved. Another reason for the decline was the high sulphur content of local coal, which made it inadaptable to metallurgical coke.
Little Vermilion was closed in 1932. Peabody mechanized no. 24 in 1927, was sold to Chicago and Harrisburg in 1942, and closed three years later. Bunsenville, the largest mine in the county, closed in 1945.
So the year 1945 saw the curtains fall on the last act of coal mining in Westville. Dwindling for years, it was kept alive only to help the war effort. The coal age was over, people said, and Westville might well become a ghost town, but they were wrong. Workers began a mass migration each day to diversified industries being developed in the Danville area.”