All coal company towns had a company store where the company gave credit to miners and got back most of the money paid to them." I OWE MY SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE." from ERNIE FORD HIT 16 tons WRITTEN BY MERLE TRAVIS.
Downtown Wheelwright from a black and white photo by Russell Lee, of the U.S.
Navy in 1946 color filters were used to get this effect ,sorry about the trees just remember only GOD CAN MAKE A TREE.
THE HERO OF WEEKSBURY GRADE SCHOOL LEWIS CAMPBELL
FIRE FIRE GET THE KIDS OUT!
All of the heroes of the area did not work in mines. Lewis Campbell was the grade school principle at Weeksbury on a January day in 1943 he started his day at 530 am driving the school bus, by 8 am he rang the school bell. Shortly after 2 pm a teacher banged on my first grade room" FIRE FIRE get the kids out' ! Ms Tackett moved us out of the building and up the hill behind the all wood 3 story school house..
On the third floor members of the 7th and 8th grade class were about to be trapped by the blaze which now was coming down the hall from the south side of the building fueled by the oil that was used on the hall floors to keep down the dust.. Campbell led many down the stairs and out of the building knowing he did not have all of the kids he ran back in threw the flames now on the stairs he reached the 8th grade room and found 3 girls he held them out the window and drooped them out, several clasmates below broke the fall.
Then he crawled to the 7th grade class were he found a girl hiding in the coat closet he pulled her to the window on the front of the building and below was a sidewalk and no one to catch the girl he threw her out and then jumped to safety. many had minor burns the most serious injury was to the last girl out , she had broken her leg in the fall.
Campbell did not get a national award, after all world war two was going on but he did get the thanks of all the kids and the town of Weeksbury. It was seven years before the Floyd county board of education rebuilt the school. Classrooms were in old stores and miners homes I went to school in Weeksbury until the 5th grade and the whole student body was never together for a Christmas play or any program.
Inland Steel published a book in 1997 marking the 100 birthday of the company. The coal mine at Wheelwright or the men who gave so much for the company, many gave all, they went to work and never came back alive, were not a part of this published history. Some of the miners died of sudden roof falls but every man who went into the driftmouth( mine opening) will die a slow death due to black lung. Inland Steel company was the best as coal company owners.
When Koppers Coal bought Weeksbury, Kentucky the homes were well taken care of , most were larger than the 3 room houses at Wheelwright. Koppers came to get the coal, they closed down the steam powered generators, closed the bath house and let go all support workers but the only man who knew were the water pipes were located Orville Oney.
