Please forgive my cross-posting to several Missouri lists. In my research of my ancestors over the past couple of weeks, I have come across a startling number of coal mine accidents taking the lives of family members. And our family belief is that my great-grandfather died of Black Lung disease. I am not certain where all of these Missouri coal mines were, or who owned or managed them. I am particularly interested in the details of coal mining life. Were "mine towns" set up? Are there accounts of the accidents separate from newspapers? Are there account books available from the companies? Pictures anywhere online? So far, I only have that one of the accidents was in Fayette in May,1876. Another, place unknown but possibly Randolph county, was August 1, 1902. My ancestors lived and worked in several Missouri counties, and some branches moved on to Colorado and points west to mine in those locations also. My great-grandfather, having lost one son to an accident and suffering the ill effects himself, sent my grandfather to live with a doctor and his family on the hope that he would be spared the mining life. He was; he became a pharmacist, but not before losing another cousin to the mines. I would love to know more about the history of these mines, and the life that attracted these men from their farms to these holes in the ground. Suggestions, anyone? Elizabeth DuBois Russo formerly of Marshall, MO, now of Simsbury, CT