Miners and a Minister

Miners and a Minister. How a Local African American Family Made a Living. , The town of Davis incorporated in 1889, just five years after the railroad arrived. As timbering rapidly grew, industries required a larger workforce than a sparse, local population could provide. Recruiters looked to several labor sources, including immigrants arriving in Atlantic ports from overseas and African American workers from the deep South. Some came for other reasons, as with Peter Absalom Barmer (1885-1969, left), who came to West Virginia in 1911 from North Carolina, was ordained in Davis in 1914 and shortly after became the minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. To earn an income and raise a family, Reverend Barmer also mined coal. His son Eugene Barmer also mined coal until the mine closed in 1947. His wife Elaine's father, Henry Green, worked in the mines until a work injury permanently impaired his vision (Henry Green and his daughter Elaine are shown in the far left photo)., (Caption):, In this 1940s Coketon mine photo, Henry Green (father to Gene Barmer's wife, Elaine) is standing second from left. In front of him is Ed Craig, whose granddaughters, Doris and Dorothy Redman, attended the Coketon Colored School. Coal mines were among the first workplaces where black and white workers were employed alongside one another, along with many immigrants. Giuseppi Quattrocchi (front, 10th from left), nicknamed "Poker Joe," had local relatives who shortened their name to Quattro and owned the Davis Lunch Restaurant., Photo credits: all photos Barmer and Green family collections, Layouts and text by David A. Vago Historic Resource Planning and Design