‘I’m proud to have been a miner’
Coal Miners’ Reunion, April 29, 2017
Ann and Granville Cornett eat lunch while talking about how living in two coal camps “separated by a creek” brought them together.
They came for the music, the fellowship, for the stories, and to show respect.
Saturday was the inaugural Coal Miner’s Reunion in Rocky Top, an event meant to bring mining families together to reminisce, as well as raise funds for the Rocky Top Coal Miners’ Museum.
Willie Buttram mined coal in Rosedale after returning home from Vietnam.
“As soon as I graduated high school (Lake City) in 1967, I was sent to Vietnam. When I came back in 1969 I started mining,” Buttram said.
It was a theme repeated throughout the day: Uncle Sam calls and after returning from Vietnam there was work in the mines.
“The last coal mines in Anderson County were bought by the Swisher Company in 2005,” former coal miner Lonnie Dyson said.
He began working for his father’s company, D&D Mining, in 1964 when he was “14 or 15-years old.”
Dyson stops, thinks a moment … “Well I actually started in 1963 working outside the mine. I’ve been around coal mining all of my life.”
Dyson worked until 1967 in the mines before being invited (drafted) to Vietnam. When his enlistment was over he returned to work at TT&W Mining Company in Briceville.
“I think it’s in the air here,” Gary Hayes said.
Hayes mined coal for 13 years at S&H Mining in Briceville.
“I enjoyed it. I’m proud to have been a miner. I have a lot of good memories,” he said.
Others came who never mined, but hold a deep respect for the people who did.
“Our fathers were both coal miners,” Granville Cornett said.
He and his wife, Ann, grew up in coal camps, “Right across a creek from each other,” in Hazard, Ky.The couple has been married 50-plus years and have lived in Campbell County for the last 40 years.
Granville’s father, Chester “Shorty” Cornett and Ann’s father, Russell Harper, worked in separate mines but that didn’t mean much because the mining camps were close.
“Somebody made a mistake and built a bridge across that creek and we’ve been together ever since,” Granville laughed. They were “four or five” at the time.
Granville holds up a small, thin metal wedge with a straight wire protruding from one end. It was given to him in the 1930s.
“Miners used this to clean the tips in their carbide lamps,” he noted with a sense of pride.
“I know those men worked hard … It was a hard life, but it taught you things and it leaves an impression when you’re around it all the time,” he said.
Buttram said that he never thought much about his life as a coal miner.
Not until recently.
“I think there used to be a stigma about being a miner. You know, growing up in a coal camp and using script (what miners used at the company’s store as money). But I’m proud to be a miner,” Buttram said.
“And really, there wasn’t much else to do around here,” he continued.
Hayes found work in a clothing mill for several years after he left mining.
Jeff Acres and his daughter, Raelyn, may have come for the music — there was plenty of bluegrass played during the reunion — but they also visited the Coal Miner’s Reunion, which they both enjoyed, and the atmosphere at the reunion.
“It’s a unique experience,” Jeff Acres said.
As for Raelyn, she attended because she takes fiddle lessons and her teacher, Tony Thomas, was performing during the day.
“The music is good, but I’ve enjoyed all it,” she said.