My maternal grandfather was a coal miner in the southern coalfields of West Virginia. He was killed in a mine accident when my mother was young. He was a shift foreman. There were reports of roof problems and he went down to inspect before his shift went in. The roof of the shaft collapsed on him. My great grandfather and great uncle worked at the tipple, not down in the mine. My grandmother pulled the entire extended family out of the coalfields after grandfather died, vowing that none of her boys would go down in the mines.
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