Ruins from a church built in 1754

[Sigarms]

Because I do think these are worth posting and fried1765 did say I could put them up...

New to fried tractor, sitting in font of house with old roof



Less tractor but house with a new roof that was just finished...



I'm still hoping for a view of the front yard, which I believe would be worth it

 

[Sigarms]

Miners had hellish jobs, horrific living conditions and low pay.View attachment 611267

Both my grandfathers (coal miners) died due to accidents by age 50.

I worked in a union shop one time looking for summer work in college. I've come to the conclusions that a lot of unions are in it for themselves and don't actually care about the business they're in. The union and what they did made no sense to me. The biggest impression I got was I was getting rheemed out for finishing my data entry wook too quick (done right though), and since I had time to do nothing, I decided to sweep the floor. First time I ever got my arse rheemed out for working hard.

THAT said, looking at coal mines in the late 1800 and early 1900's, I can completely understand why workers had to become unionized, due to lack of care provided by management.

Looking up my one grandfather, I came across a large document with the department of mining of Pennsyvlania. I need to go through the document, but I believe the year was 1932. Look at just the 6 accidents alone (and what happened) in the month of December (in 3 mines, same county). This is not the fatality report which has it's own page. Coal mining was dangerous work back then (ironically enough one grandather was killed in a logging accident for the mine).



That said, I would like to think that my grandparents succeeded in what they wanted to do... they came to America to make a better life for their children, which they did.

 

[ArlyA]

My great grand father came to America from Sweden with his spouse sometime in the 1880-1900 time frame and found work in a Hematite mine (Iron ore) in the Negaunee MI region. His spouse died giving birth so he sent the kids to his cousins who had just homesteaded in eastern SD and that's the reason that is my home state. He eventually retired from the mine and moved west to live with the now grown up kids and died there from black lung, which is silicosis. Work can be tough on people.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Accurate history should be taught in schools. My great grandfather immigrated from England to Carbondale Pa near Scranton just after Civil War. He opened a grocery store when he was older, not wanting to work in mines.

 

[Sigarms]

Accurate history should be taught in schools. My great grandfather immigrated from England to Carbondale Pa near Scranton just after Civil War. He opened a grocery store when he was older, not wanting to work in mines.

The reality is our true American history sometimes isn't pretty, nor do I ever believe do they teach it in schools.

When has the "Battle of Athens" ever been taught in a public school? The reality is the state, who runs our schools is our buddy!

Generally speaking, money talks, but at least in todays society with the advancment in communcations, a lot of stuff people got away with 100 years or more ago dosn't fly any more.

 

[RickB]

History is written by the winners and edited by the powerful.

 

[ArlyA]

Historians are not a really a bad lot but they do have there own research and view. Point in case. Lets say you have your annual church picnic, and you ask 6 attendees to write up an article for the paper. Reading the 6 stories with there variations, might suggest they may did not attended the same picnic. But do note, this is normal for people to see something, then write down their impressions with wide variations. Try asking a Juvenal to write there impression of that picnic? :laughing: So we can't expect different historical writers to write the same on a same subject either..

 

[k0ua]

Historians are not a really a bad lot but they do have there own research and view. Point in case. Lets say you have your annual church picnic, and you ask 6 attendees to write up an article for the paper. Reading the 6 stories with there variations, might suggest they may did not attended the same picnic. But do note, this is normal for people to see something, then write down their impressions with wide variations. Try asking a Juvenal to write there impression of that picnic? :laughing: So we can't expect different historical writers to write the same on a same subject either..

That's a good point. I saw this a lot back in the day being a deputy Sheriff. Lots of viewpoints for the same event!

 

[crazyal]

I like the unwritten history. In the woods behind my house there's a couple old stone foundations. I can only assume, based on where they are that they belong to hunters or possibly the land was cleared once and farmed (at least 150 years ago). A friend and I will spend some time at each one with metal detectors seeing what we come up with. Most steel has rusted too much to identify but once in a while we'll find something we can identify and clue us in. One of the houses we found an old trap. Other times we find stuff that just makes our heads explode. We found a steel pin with a skier on the front and a date of the 1940s on the back. It cleaned up to perfect shape. How it got there is beyond us.

 

[bunyip]

That's a good point. I saw this a lot back in the day being a deputy Sheriff. Lots of viewpoints for the same event!

And having spent a good part of my life working in forensics I guarantee that if you get the same account from a few people they are lying or there is a fabrication of evidence and they are being intimidated by someone.