From the Knoxville News Sentinal - Sept 30, 2005-- Are you a descendant of the 300 miners who died in Anderson County mine accidents? ---- Group searching for miners' descendents Foundation to sponsor tour of disaster site By BOB FOWLER, [email protected] September 30, 2005 BRICEVILLE - A national search is under way for the descendants of 300 coal miners killed in two Anderson County mining disasters early last century. Those ancestors can fill in gaps in the rich history of the area and perhaps help reunite long-lost relatives, said Carol Moore, spokeswoman for the Coal Creek Watershed Foundation. That nonprofit group seeks to improve living conditions in the isolated, impoverished area and is sponsoring a tour of one mine disaster site next month, Moore said. The Fraterville coal mine exploded in May 1902, and 216 bodies were recovered. The Cross Mountain mine disaster of December 1911 killed 84, Moore said. Five miners survived in one of the U.S. Bureau of Mines' first successful rescue operations. "Between the two disasters, well over 1,000 children were left fatherless,'' she said. "There are probably thousands of descendants out there.'' Moore said word of the search has gone out on the Internet and has been relayed to coal-mining associations and media in other parts of Appalachia, where many survivors migrated. Past tours of the Fraterville Mine site "have brought together many family members who never knew each other,'' Moore said. In response to requests from descendants and history buffs, a first-ever tour of the Cross Mountain Mine site will be held Oct. 15, she said. The free walking tour from Briceville Elementary to the mine site and two cemeteries where Cross Mountain miners are interred will begin at 9 a.m. Bus shuttles also will be available. That afternoon, a free concert will be held from 2 to 4 at Briceville Church to raise funds for the restoration of that historic building, Moore said. For additional information about the tour, concert or national search, contact Moore at 865-584-0344 or [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>. Bob Fowler, News Sentinel Anderson County editor, may be reached at 865-481-3625. Copyright 2005, KnoxNews. All Rights Reserved.