The Workers

The Workers. National Coal Heritage Trail. , Bramwell was not just the home to the owners and operators of the mines. The productive Pocahontas coalfield needed labor. Native Appalachians, immigrants of southern and eastern Europe and African-Americans from the agricultural south filled the need, coming into the coalfields with little or no industrial experience., Mines were situated close enough to Bramwell to allow workers to live there, walking or taking the train to work. The 1900 census shows the 35 African-Americans coal and coke workers and 28 white coal and coke workers were living within the corporate limits of the town, which at that time had a population of 824., Miners also lived within the communities of Coopers, Simmons, and Freeman. These coal towns, all established by 1890, developed along with Bramwell. Collectively, some estimates show the greater Bramwell area having a population of 4000 at the beginning of the 20th century., Early in the development of these communities, both workers and mine operators lived in the same neighborhoods. These smaller self-sufficient communities had their own churches, schools, stores, and post offices. Simmons and Coopers were complete with railroad stations. As mines became more established and revenues increased, the owners and operators relocated to Bramwell or Bluefield., [Sidebar:] , The development of the coalfield attracted a diverse workforce to Bramwell, including African-Americans, Italians, English, Hungarians, Irish, Welch, Dutch, German, Lithuanian, Russian, and Scott, as well as locals. Even John Cooper, one of the early coal barons, was a native of England. The 1900 census counted 824 citizens within the city limits, of whom 221 were black with 31 listed as coal miners, 4 coke workers, and other occupations covering a range from lawyer to domestic help., Immigrant Entrepeneur, John Cooper (1842–1898). , Born in the mining and industrial district of South Staffordshire, England, he started working in coal mines at the age of 6 as a trapper boy , opening and closing ventilation doors in a mine. A self-educated man, Cooper came to America in 1862 and worked in the anthracite mining area of Pennsylvania., In 1873, he moved to Fayette County, WV and began an unsuccessful mining venture at Hawks Nest, in the newly opened New River coalfield. In 1884, he founded the Mill Creek Coal Coke Company with partner Joseph Beury. Cooper founded a community that bore his name (Coopers , just south of Bramwell) where he made his home in order to be-near his mining operations., Cooper also entered into business with Jenkin Jones (a founder of Caswell Creek Coal and Coke), became President of the .Bank of Bramwell, and organized the Republican Party in Fayette and Mercer counties., Modern Bramwell is actually a composite community. The core town of Bramwell was incorporated in 1888. Its neighbors were the towns of Freeman (Simmons) and Coopers, each with its own train station and post office. Bramwell eventually absorbed both communities, but each still maintained their own post office. In 1993, the post office at Coopers closed followed by Freeman in 1997.