The Coal Barons

The Coal Barons. . While the description of Bramwell as a town of millionaires can be viewed as an exaggeration, it did have a significant number of wealthy families. Their wealth was built largely upon the rapid growth of the Pocahontas coalfield and Bramwell’s strategic location. It was home to the Bank of Bramwell and the powerful Flat Top Land Association. Individuals connected to either of these businesses and many of the pioneering coal operations acquired great financial success. Many of the pioneer operators brought with them considerable mining experience, most of it acquired in the anthracite coalfields of Pennsylvania. , The prominent coal operators of the Pocahontas Coalfield are shown in the photo to the left. Missing from the picture are John Freeman and William H. Thomas. , John Freeman (1822 1892). Born in England, he came to the U.S. about 1850 and settled in Treverton, Pennsylvania, where he worked in the anthracite coal mines. At the end of the Civil War, he came to Clifton Forge, Virginia to engage in iron making. During the 1870s he moved to the New River field and worked at the Fire Creek Mine of Joseph Beury, where he met Jenkin Jones. He partnered with Jones to start the Caswell Creek Coal and Coke Company. In his 60s at the time of this venture, he continued his association with Jones for the remainder of his life. The town of Freeman, northeast of Bramwell, bears his name. , William Harris Thomas (1862-1918). A native of South Wales, he came with his parents to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania at age 6. In 1885, he came to the Pocahontas field and accepted a position in the store of the Southern Virginia Improvement Company at Pocahontas, Virginia. His first mining experience was with the Algoma mine in McDowell County. Later, he started the Thomas Coal and Coke Company and built an impressive residence in Bramwell. At the time of his death, he was president of the Thomas Coal and Coke Company, Crystal Coal and Coke Company, Flat Top Mining Company, McDowell Coal and Coke Company, Eclipse Milling Company, chairman of the board of the Flat Top Fuel Company, and a director of the Bank of Bramwell. , Jonathan P. Bowen (1830-1902). Like many of the early operators, Bowen was born in Wales and brought up in the Pennsylvania coalfields (Schuylkill County). He was both able and ambitious and became superintendent of mines in Pennsylvania and southwestern Virginia. In 1884. Bowen and William Booth opened one of the early mines , generally regarded as the fourth , in the Flat Top field. Located at Freeman in Mercer County, the organization was first called William Booth and Company. However, in 1889 the name was changed to the Booth-Bowen Coal and Coke Company. In 1892, Bowen succeeded Booth as President and continued in that position until his death. The office was the filled by his son, William Henry Bowen, generally known as Harry. , Isaac Thomas Mann (1863-1932). Much of the image of Bramwell evolved with the career of I.T. Mann. He was one of the very few of Bramwell’s coal barons born in West Virginia (Fort Spring, Greenbrier County). His career began in 1885 in a bank in Alderson belonging to his uncle, Jame E. Mann. In 1889, as the major stockholder in the Bank of Bramwell, J.E. Mann installed his nephew as cashier of the Bank of Bramwell. From this position. he built the bank into a powerful financial institution and invested in local mines. He eventually created the Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company, later known as the Pocahontas Fuel Company and the largest locally owned coal producer. In 1901, he closed a land deal with Norfolk and Western that resulted in a profit of $10 million and brought the interests of U.S. Steel into the region. In 1901 the Bank was worth over $1 million and ranked third of the 115 state banks. By 1923 its holdings had increased to $13 million. The decline in coal prices and the Great Depression resulted in the closing of the bank in 1933, a year after Mann’s death. According to a relative he was “worth 578 million one day and owed $81 million the next.” I.T. Mann was one of the great and finally tragic success stories of the coalfields. Bramwell benefited from his presence, financially and in other ways. In 1904. he gave the town’s Presbyterian congregation a new church building. The town of Itmann, in Wyoming County, is named in his honor by the directors of the Pocahontas Fuel Company. , 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. Self-educated. Cooper came to America in 1862 and worked in the anthracite mining area of Pennsylvania until 1873. He moved to Fayette County. West Virginia and began an unsuccessful mining venture at Hawks Nest, in the newly opened New River coalfield. In 1884, he joined with Joseph Beury to form the Mill Creek Coal and Coke Company, which shipped the first railroad car of coal from the West Virginia section of the Pocahontas field. Cooper made his home in the community of Coopers, just south of Bramwell, to be near his mining operations. He became involved in business with Jenkin Jones and was, at one time, President of the Bank of Bramwell. , Jenkin Jones (1841-1916). Jones was born in Wales of a coal mining family. In 1863, he came to Pennsylvania and worked in the anthracite mines. By 1872 he had migrated to Clifton Forge, Virginia where he operated a small iron ore mine. Following the path of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad in opening up the New River coalfield, he worked the Fire Creek mine owned by Joseph Beury. In 1884, with John Freeman. he leased 1400 acres from the Flat Top Land Association and started the Caswell Creek Coal and Coke Company, the third operation to open in the Pocahontas field. In 1907, he merged his operations with I. T. Mann’s Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company. Jones was one of the coal barons who started their operations with little capital, sometimes described as, with “one mule, one mine car. and a few picks and shovels.” The town of Jenkinjones was named in his honor by his son, James Elwood Jones.