With the access to markets provided by the coming of rail service to the Greenbrier Valley after the Civil War, steam powered sawmills, with circular and band saws, took over from the water powered sash mills for most of the lumber production. For commercial production of lumber the older technology could not begin to compete with steam.
As with water powered mills, there is no way of knowing for certain when the first steam powered mill was put into operation in the Upper Greenbrier Valley. The first such mill in Pocahontas County may have been brought to the area by Federal troops during the Civil War.1
Among the first steam powered sawmills, if not the first, after the Civil War, was the mill installed on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad at Ronceverte by the St. Lawrence Boom and Manufacturing Company in the early 1870s. This company was a major part of the history of lumbering in the valley and its work is covered in detail in Chapters V and VI.
However, the other steam mills put in use in the first years of timbering in the valley, by necessity, had to use equipment small enough to be moved to the lumbering sites over the primitive roads by animal power. The temporary nature of these early operations – the mills were often moved from site to site – means the history that follows can be sketchy at best. At least the names of some of those who were involved with early lumbering in the valley can be preserved, despite a lack of accurate details of their work.
Greenbrier County
The greatest loss of life from the operation of a sawmill in the Upper Greenbrier Valley was not associated with one of the large band sawmills, but with a portable mill near Frankford on Friday, February 28, 1896. (There were eight men killed in an explosion at Thornwood in —-, but it was not due to the operation of a sawmill. See Chapter X.) Seven men died, five instantly and two from injuries. In the Greenbrier Independent, the story was headlined:
APPALLING DISASTER at FRANKFORD
A BOILER EXPLODES, KILLING
FIVE MEN INSTANTLY.
TWO OTHERS HAVE
SINCE DIED
Never, perhaps, in the history of Greenbrier has a more distressing accident happened than that which occurred in the Joe Livesay woodland, near the town of Frankford, last Friday morning, the 29 [sic] ult., about 10 o’clock – At that hour an awful sound was heard from the woods, and echoed back from the surrounding hills, a dense cloud of steam ascended through the tree tops, and, then, no sound was heard, save the shrieks and groans of the wounded and dying, who, with the dead, lay scattered through the wood like soldiers on a field of battle.
Wm. H. Overholt, Esq., had bought the timber standing on the ground, secured an engine and saw mill and, only a few days before, had gotten the mill in operation, with a force of hands cutting and sawing the timber for market. It appears that the engine was not working properly, failing to supply steam enough to force the saw through the logs, consequently, a large piece of wood had been secured to the safety valve to aid the work of the engine and give a greater head of steam. Ed. Kershner, the only one about the mill who escaped unhurt, states that the gauge showed 165 pounds and was still going up. Remarking to the boys that he was going away from there before they blew the thing up, he took a bucket and started to the spring. When about twenty yards away, and just as he was passing behind a large tree, the boiler exploded with terrific force. – Ed. was knocked down by the jar and his team was frightened and started to run. They struck a tree and somehow both horses were thrown. As soon as he recovered his presence of mind he ran to unloose his horses. Then looking around towards the mill a scene of death and desolation met his eye. The boiler was torn to pieces and the men were lying still and motionless over the ground. Thinking that all were killed he mounted one of his horses and hurried off to Frankford. The alarm was soon spread among the people and then from far and near all hurried to the scene of disaster. And what a scene it was! Five men were dead, two others mortally injured and four other badly wounded or terribly shocked. – Samuel Hodge, the sawyer, son of Elijah Hodge, of Pocahontas county, aged about 22 years, is thought to have been standing on top of the boiler when it exploded. He was hurled through the air to a distance of over a hundred yards, his clothes torn off and his body terribly mangled. He was of course killed instantly, and portions of his clothing were found the next day suspended from the limbs of the trees through which body passed.
The others who died instantly were Woodson Ransbarger, about 20, the fireman, who was blown about forty yards; Samuel Livesay, about 38, who was one of the family members selling the timber and was at the mill only as a spectator; Henry Dunbar, about 20; and Harry Brown, about 17, who was also present only as a spectator. It was reported Mr. Livesay was leaving the site when the explosion happened and was hit in the back by piece of the boiler.
Fatally injured were Clowney Kershner, about 30, who died Friday night, and Walter McClintic, 19, who died on Sunday. Seriously injured were James Fleshman, 18, and Addison D. Johnson, about 20. Kelly Livesay was badly shocked and Waldo Ransbarger escaped with a minor injury.
This appalling disaster cast a deep gloom o’er the whole community, and filled the hearts of the people with anguish and sorrow. Fathers and mothers wept for their sons, sisters for their brothers, and wives, with infants in their arms, for their loved husbands, who had been suddenly snatched from their embrace. Strong men shed tears, and even the heavens wept in sympathy with the sorrowing people. All day Saturday the town was thronged with people, viewing the bodies of the dead, visiting the wounded and inspecting the scene of the disaster at the mill, where they found the ground strewn with fragments of machinery, timber, pieces of clothing, hats, shoes, gloves, pocket knives, &c., showing how mighty and terrible had been the force of the explosion.
The article concluded with a report on the services for the victims.2
The article in The Pocahontas Times had the following headline, with an inaccuracy in the number of deaths:
BOILER BURSTS
At W. H. Overholt’s Mill, Near
Frankford. – Eight Men Dead
and Another Injured
Last Friday morning at 10:30, the people in the vicinity of Frankford, Greenbrier County, were startled by the sound of an explosion which resembled distant thunder. In a few minutes a man named Loudermilk [sic] dashed into the village on a horse which was torn and bleeding, and gave the alarm that the portable saw-mill of W. H. Overholt had burst and killed all that were near it. In a very short time hundreds of people had reached the place, and a truly appalling spectacle was the scene of the wreck. The mangled bodies of nine [sic] men lay scattered around ruins.
After listing the dead and injured the article continued:
The force of the explosion was demonstrated by the appearance of the outfit. The engine was much larger than generally used as a part of a portable saw-mill, it being of thirty-five horse power. Of this large engine there was scarcely a piece left too large to be lifted by a single man. Even the fly-wheel was broken to bits. The steam-chest was broken up, and near the crown sheet of the boiler the iron around the boiler had parted. The shaft on which the saw revolved, a piece of iron several inches in diameter, was broken. Pieces of the engine were to be found in a radius of two hundred yards. The shed over the mill was wrecked, and a horse some distance away killed.
There were no survivors among those around the engine, and unless Fleshman recovers there will be no one to tell the tale. To judge from the positions of the bodies it is most likely that the engine was at work and the whole force at work at their customary duties. The fireman’s and Mr. Levisay’s [sic] bodies were found behind the engine, while those of the sawing crew were in the other direction. The body of Samuel Hodge the sawyer, was hurled thro the air for 125 yards, up hill; it struck the ground and ricochetted [sic] a distance of twenty feet against a tree, which it struck with great force. All the bones in this body were broken, and he was naked when found. The soles of his shoes were blown off. The noise of the explosion was heard in the lower part of this county [Pocahontas], a distance of fifteen or twenty miles.
It is reported that the cause of the accident was a defective safety valve, which is situated on the top of the steam chest. The object of this valve is when the pressure reaches a certain point it opens and liberates a certain amount of steam. The valve on this engine was out of order, and the spring being weak, it would pop off and waste the steam before enough was made to drive the mill. The fireman tied this valve so that the steam could not escape under any pressure and the result was this explosion.3
A third account of the tragedy was in the Valley Messenger, from Ronceverte. Ironically, according to this article, the mill “was sawing first-class oak for burial cases at the time of the accident.” The article described the scene:
It was a sight to blanch the stoutest heart. Within a short distance lay the mangled bodies of five men, three of them dead, and most of them so blackened and disfigured as to be hardly recognizable. The boiler was gone, and even the heavy log skids upon which it rested had been blown away, leaving the earth as bare as a floor. The shed was a complete wreck, and on its ruins lay a section of the boiler. Pieces of the engine lay around in confusion. The enormous flywheel, weighing about 1,800 pounds, was shattered into fragments and dotted the earth. It was a scene of desolation and death such as our section had never before witnessed.
According to this article Van Buren Fleshman, the father of James Fleshman, was one of the first to reach the accident site. “He found his son lying near the saw log and Waldo Ransbarger was pouring water on him. Had it not been for this boy’s prompt action Fleshman would have suffocated in the rubbish.” The times of death for the two badly injured men are different in this article. Mr. Kershner is reported to have died early Saturday morning and Mr. McClintic on Saturday night.
The boiler which exploded with such dreadful results was of about 35 horse power. It was of the return tubular type, and had the engine bolted on top. It was brought to this section by the Messrs. Brown Bros., of Ronceverte, who used it in their lumber business at Chase City, Va. For the past two years it had been run in Pocahontas County by Chas. Callison. Last summer it was put in use at the bone mill in East Ronceverte. Afterward it was bought by W. H. Overholt of Frankford, who had it removed to the spot where it exploded. While here it was a source of uneasiness to the citizens. We are informed upon good authority that the boiler was considered dangerous, and the impression among our local engineers was that it would require much repair before it could be operated with safety. The flues leaked considerably, and that part of the front enclosing the steam space was bulged out and had probably been burned. The engine was in good repair. The outfit was about ten years old, we understand.
The Valley Messenger article noted that there were many and conflicting theories about what caused the explosion. “The most reasonable theory is that of low water in the boiler and the turning on of the injector. Nine tenths of the boiler explosions occur from this cause.” (The injector is the device that feeds water into a boiler.)4
As for the location of the tragedy, a Greenbrier County map published in 1887 has J. Livesay located south of Frankford, just south of the Anthony Road. locate Joe Livesay property
Unfortunately, not too much detail has been found on the first steam sawmills in the Greenbrier Valley in Greenbrier County.
A commissioner’s sale of land on June 9, 1883, near Frankford included a twelve acre tract that has a “steam Grist and Sawmill recently erected by G. H. Lewis. ”5 check for deeds to Lewis and sale result
The 1887 map mentioned before has a “stream mill” located south of Frankford, not far north of the —– Road. The map also has a “Mill” at White Sulphur Springs on Howard Creek, at/near the mouth of Dry Creek. The careful reader found this mill was referred to in the previous chapter as there is no indication of the type of mill nor the way it was powered.
There are several newspaper references to sawmills in the Anthonys Creek watershed:
• 1887 – Huddleston has two sawmills on Whites Draft
• 1888 – In January Huddleston had two mills not operating; one froze and the other burst by steam
• 1889 – Thomas May on Little Creek (also included in the previous chapter, since the type of power May used has not been determined)
• 1890 – Huddleston planing mill on Dry Creek burned on May 31
• 1890 – Osborn and Lackey are running two steam sawmills
• 1894 – A. L. Hoke is reported to have a contract for his sawmill with St. Lawrence Boom and Lumber Company6 “Manufacturing” unless sentence is quote
Abraham Elias Huddleston was a native of Allegheny County, Virginia, who left working for the C&O Railway in 1879 to go into the lumber business. He acquired a tract of 1,484 acres in December 1898 and another tract, with 1,024 acres in October of the next year. They were located —– and cost Huddleston $5,200. He sold them to J. H. Painter in September 1901, but must have started timbering, as the sale included mill equipment, lath machine, stave sawing machine, and a locomotive and four cars. Huddleston reserved the right to finish sawing staves and remove them. (For more on Painter see Kitanning Lumber Company, under Anthonys Creek in Chapter XIV.)7
An advertisement in the Greenbrier Independent in August 1894 offered for sale Felix deNemegyei’s sawmill at Caldwell. Included in the sale was a log raft and a lumber raft near Keisters Mill.8
A July 1885 news item was “J. R. Marshall – recently of Hillsboro, mill in Renix [sic] Valley, cutting white pine and black walnut, cutting about 200,000 a year.”9
Logging The Greenbrier Valley 