101 years ago on the Briar Mtn. Branch

[NW Mailing List]

Following are recollections from the late
O. H. Booton of The Mingo Republican.  Exact
date not known, but it happened in August, 1914.
N&W No. 15 arrived Glen Alum and unloaded a
mine payroll ($7,000)from a Lynchburg bank.  Three
coal mine officers came by motor car to make
the pick up and guard it back to the mine.  They
were Dr. W.D. Amick, mine physician, Joseph Shelor,
mine electrician, and F. D. Johnson, bookkeeper.
After leaving Glen Alum, they encountered ties stacked
on the tracks and when they dismounted, they were
immediately gunned down.  By N&W telegraph, Greenway
Hatfield, Mingo County Sheriff was notified of the
incident.  Within 45 minutes, an N&W train departed
Williamson carrying lawmen, Baldwin-Felts detectives,
and other interested parties to Glen Alum.

The second day following the robbery, the posse
found 5 Italians near Cold Spring Fork.  The posse
charged and killed them.  They were thought to be
"Black Handers" - part of the Italian mafia.  All
but $20 of the payroll was recovered, but there were
11 deaths --  Amick, Johnson, and Shelor, the five
Italians, and three lawmen.             Harry Bundy

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist6.pair.net/pipermail/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20150831/0fae2f69/attachment.html>