“Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise” was something I heard a lot growing up. It’s one of my favorite Appalachian sayings. It acknowledges that we can hope for the best but that even our best plans may be washed away. It embodies that particular Appalachian mindset that accepts the way things are, is deeply…
All posts in Disasters
No. 9
It was early in the morning on November 20, 1968 when an explosion rocked the small town of Farmington, West Virginia. It was powerful enough to be felt miles away, in the larger city of Fairmont. Miners and their families lived in fear of the sound of an explosion and the blaring of the alarm…
The Widows of Farmington
Sara Lee Kaznoski, Mary Kay Rogers, Mary Matish, and Norma Snyder all kissed their husbands goodbye on November 19th, 1968. It was not a particularly remarkable day for them. Their husbands had been miners for years. Sara’s husband, Pete, had first went into the mines at the age of 14. All three of the men…