Harlan County, Kentucky
On the morning of December 9, 1932, at 8:30 am, a blast at the Zero Mine, owned by Harlan Fuel Company, was heard in the Yancy section of Harlan County. The Bureau of Mines office in Norton, VA, was notified at 1:10 pm by Charles Guthrie, General Superintendent of the Harlan Fuel Company. The rescue mission didn’t start until close to 3:00 pm, led by James Bryson, Director of Safety for the Harlan County Coal Operators’ Association. The explosion resulted in the lives of 23 miners, six of whom were brothers.
In an article from the Middlesboro Daily News on December 10, 1932, read the following.
“Later in the night it was reported that other bodies had been sighted in the passage, but the rescue crews were not close enough to tell how many there were. Assisting Bryson in the rescue work were J.F. Davies, U. S. Bureau of Mines engineer, R. H. Gonia, district mine inspector and rescue teams from the Harlan Wallins Coal Corp., at Verda.”
It was believed to be a dust explosion that caused the blast since many of the Harlan mines were mostly gas free. However, a “blackdamp” or gas following the explosion is likely what killed many of the miners. Eight miners died of carbon monoxide and others severely burned.
The six brothers were Henry Massengill, Calvin Massengill, Garrett Massengill, Esaw Massengill, Campbell M. Massengill, and Thomas Massingale all were son of James Nelson Massingale of Claiborne County, Tennessee. He and his wife Martha, traveled to Harlan County to identify the bodies of their sons. Their bodies were transported to Tazewell, Tennessee for burial.
The other deceased miners
George Hendricks
Herman Eddie
Charles Davenport
Henry Hibbard
O. A. Romine
Arthur L. Woods
Harold Woods
Will Reynolds
Eugene Woods
Ben Fields
Harrison Jackson
Jim Davis
Mace Turnbough
Alfred Graves
Will Newell
Robert Benbo
Luther Jones