N&W in 1909--Fatality

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
October 9, 1909

IN CITY AND COALFIELD
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Colored Lawyer Killed
    W. R. Blackburn, a colored lawyer, attempted to board a freight train at Northfork Thursday night about 9 o'clock, to go to Upland, where his family resides.  He missed his footing and fell under the wheels and was badly injured, dying early yesterday morning.  Blackburn came from Danville, Va., and had a gift of oratory that was marvelous.  He will be buried at Pocahontas.
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[Another example of how hopping freight trains was a common way to get around in the coalfields in those days.]

Gordon Hamilton
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